Spring Festival in China normally triggers the largest mass movement of humans in the world as people return to hometowns across the country for the traditional family reunions or head out on trips abroad.
This year, travel plans have been dramatically scaled back. It’s estimated that the largest-ever number of Chinese students will remain in Shanghai during the coming holiday.
The Shanghai Lixin University of Accounting and Finance said more than 1,300 students have chosen to stay put. Some of them come from hometowns in China that are deemed medium-to-high risk for the pandemic.
Seohui Baek, a South Korean majoring in business at East China Normal University, said she isn’t particularly bothered by having to stay in Shanghai.
Last year she was visiting her family in Seoul when the pandemic broke out. She ended up staying in South Korea until November.
“In South Korea, the situation was very much like that in China,” she said. “We also experienced shortages of protective gear like face masks, and our streets were empty. I was hoping there would be a vaccine that would allow me to return to Shanghai earlier. But there was none at that time.”
When she did finally return, she had to undergo five coronavirus nucleic acid tests and endure a 14-day quarantine. Even today, her university requires students to wear masks and have their temperatures checked before entering campus.