White Tiger Path 5.0 - The Last Days of China, Corona, and the Extraction - February 2020

I have arrived back in Canada, temporarily.

It was the 16th of January and I had two weeks, until February 2nd, 2020, on my own until my father was set to arrive in Beijing where we would start our tour of China. I continued exploring the city of Shanghai and was walking as much as I could.

We had a pretty full itinerary planned for Beijing, Yichang (in Hubei Province), and Shanghai. 

The Great Wall of China, The Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, and Peking Duck were on the menu for Beijing; Yichang, to see the Three Gorges Dam; and Shanghai, my home away from home, would have been our last stop, where we would have seen all the different and wonderful things I had discovered and a couple I was saving to see with my father for the first time, like the Shanghai Circus, ascending the second tallest building in the world, nearby Nanjing, an ancient capital of China and TeamLab’s Immersive Lightshow, a progressive art and mirror exhibit imported from Tokyo. 

I roamed, with a newfound abundance of time and solitude. I explored the French, British, and American concessions by daylight and street lamps, armed with a bottle of water, an umbrella, a mask (later in these wanderings) and a camera to discover streets I hadn’t before. I walked the entirety of both West and East Nanjing road where I was fully exposed to the upper elite, wealth and boujee consumerism that exists there. I, with a friend, wandered as far as we could along the Huangpu River, which is home to The Bund area and eventually came to a great museum, The Power Station of Art.

The Power Station of Art was housed in a gigantic old power station, which to the eye was ascetically pleasing and to the foot, wonderful to wander. I was impressed with this museum, which was funded by the government of China, free to visit and state sanctioned, because of how critical it was of the Chinese government and the Chinese way of life. It was as if they were ready to look inwards at themselves and celebrate their virtues, but mostly evaluate their shortcomings, if it happened long enough ago, which was in line with what I had grown to know about how China looked at itself up unto that point. Talking about things that were currently happening and were uncomfortable wasn’t the preferred practice, but a bit of that also seeped into the exhibits.

I celebrated Chinese New Year early, with folks from the university, at a large dinner they had organized on campus with lots of food, music, performances, cash give aways and games. I was interviewed by more than a couple newspapers to give my impressions and well wishes. One thing that I noted in one of these interviews, which was a comment I made in my last email, is that the Year of Rat had been commodified, specifically by Disney in partnership with lots of other brands. Since I didn’t have time to prepare for these interviews, I spoke off the cuff and let my mouth run wild. After my comments had been spoken, I reflected to myself how I wasn’t sure how the comments I made would be taken or if they would be offensive to the government or other bodies, as two of the newspapers were the two largest English papers in Shanghai. I grew so comfortable over the time I spent in China and Shanghai that I often forgot to curb what I said with regards to certain topics as I had in the beginning and as I had been warned before arriving in country. This caused me a bit of anxiousness. It turned out fine.

I also had a chance to visit Zhojiajiao, a water town in the suburbs of Shanghai, often referred to as the Venice of China. It was quite pleasing and nice to wander around in, for the contrast it offered to downtown Shanghai. It was slow, peaceful and kind. I could easily imagine elite Shanghainese having a second home here to relax on weekends or longer holidays. At one point I felt the familiarity to some of the times I had spent in Southern California. I felt this again in a newly built area near Hongqiao Railway station. It’s tough to put my finger on it exactly, but contributing factors were the weather and air, the newly built buildings that all looked the same (near Hongqiao railway station), as well as the gated communities.

After my weekend away in Zhojiajiao, I had wanted to explore a few more museums and neighbourhoods I hadn’t yet had the chance to visit in Shanghai, that I knew would be more interesting to me than my father, given his limited timeline in China. I did not get the chance to visit these places.

I was taking the metro back to campus, on January 23rd, and on my ride received a message, via WeChat on my phone, from an office at my university, stating that someone outside the mall very close to campus was ill with the Coronavirus, something I didn’t have a very full handle on; he was sitting on the stoop outside and a distance from the front doors of the mall wailing that he was from Wuhan, he had a fever and a cough. He thought he was infected, and he needed to be taken to the hospital, my anxiousness around this unknown issue was beginning to grow. The subways at this point were still fairly busy, but everyone wore masks and I think I sanitized my hands every 10 minutes or so.

I later saw video clips of a couple of ambulances arriving. Teams exited the vans in full hazmat suits to take the patient into their custody and he was whisked off to what I can only assume was the hospital.

Around this time was the end of what I’ll call Stage 1, in terms of mood and level of public awareness surrounding the disease, for as we know now, the CPC had indications as early as late December/early January that this had the potential to be an epidemic. People were aware, but not nearly as tense as the world or China is currently. Everyone went about their business for the most part, lots of people were travelling for Chinese New Year to visit their family, tourists were plentiful in the streets of Shanghai; it was for the most part, a calm sense of precaution with the people that I saw and spoke to in Shanghai.

On the 24th of January Stage 2 began. And for me it began because of two different things. The first was a series of messages from my dormitory leaders saying we needed to take precautions; it was best to be wearing a mask and wash your hands regularly; these messages got ramped up as the week went on to do not leave the dorms and the campus if you don’t have to, all people who were not students, faculty or staff could not enter the campus without express written permission and sound reason, and your temperature will be taken when re-entering the campus from the public. The cafeteria and school grocery stores were closed on campus, so I had to leave every day or every other day to get food and stock up on supplies that I needed. Masks were also given out to us by the school and a thermometer was made available to us if we wanted to check our temperature if we were not feeling well. I have to admit, at this point it felt like I was talking myself into thinking that I had some of symptoms they were describing, and I played through the worst case scenarios of what that was going to mean moving forward while being trapped in a dorm room. My anxiousness was compounded when I stopped seeing planes take off and land at Hongqiao Airport, something I had seen from my balcony the entire semester.

The second thing that made this feel like Stage 2 for me was a series of messages from friends back home wondering what was going on and what the mood was like and requests from my parents to Skype every couple of days, which we did. With this outbreak becoming more serious, things were starting to close down in China, and it made no sense for my father to still visit. There would be nothing for us to do but wander empty streets in Beijing and Shanghai, and Yichang was completely off the table if we had decided he was still going to come. All major attractions, museums, businesses and public gatherings had been cancelled as well as the Chinese New Year being extended to see if this would situation would blow over. It did not. It has not. The school also sent out a message to all students saying to not return to campus until instructed as it was unclear when studies would resume.

At this point, I, with my parents, decided that it was best to leave the country earlier than I had planned before I headed onto Korea. At first I looked into nearby destinations or even heading to Korea early which all seemed like good options except with my father not coming to China any more I had the issue of having an extra bag full of mementos from China that I was going to send home with him, that I didn’t want to lug around for the next 6 or so months. I also wanted a couple things from home that I also now had to arrange to be delivered to somewhere I might be before Japan. I looked into what it would cost to ship this bag home and logistics for getting things to me and for this reason, as well as a couple others, it was easier, made more sense and was more cost effective to just come home to Toronto for two or three weeks. I booked a flight on the 25th of January to fly home on the 31st of January at 11:45 pm on United Airlines, transferring through San Francisco.

I was stuck in my room, watching Leafs games in the morning, thank god the buy week was over, writing and reading in the afternoons, going for walks around and near campus, eating instant noodles and watching movies. I was in my room a lot. While it rained this was okay, but when the weather turned nice, it was harder and harder to feel satisfied with this situation, awaiting my departure from Shanghai.

I continued to monitor the news and get messages from friends about restrictions that had been put in place or were about to be put in place. I became more anxious again with the messages and news reports as the situation steadily became more serious and more tense. It looked like United was going to shut down all traffic inbound from China on either the 1st or 2nd of February, and through further Skype sessions with my parents I started to browse earlier flights home.

At this point they had completely shut down the city of Wuhan, where the epidemic started, and it felt as though the province was pretty close to being shut down as well. In Shanghai the metro station near me, was on a couple occasions, completely empty and on others more staff than passengers. The streets were relatively empty. I’m sure that this was one of the quietest times ever seen by many people. It was like nothing I had experienced before in a major centre, let alone Shanghai. It was never ever this quiet; it felt eerie and empty. Desertion on the streets and on campus.

On the morning of January 30th, I woke up to messages on my phone both from friends and my parents and push notifications from western news outlets updating on the situation and indicating that travel out of China was going to become more difficult quickly. Stage 3 had now begun. It was a feeling that had been growing over the past couple of days.

I Skyped my folks and we decided that it wasn’t worth waiting even the extra day to leave China. I booked a flight that morning for that evening. Leaving from Shanghai’s Pudong Airport at 11:45 pm to Toronto through San Francisco, the same route I was scheduled for the following evening.

Feeling the situation growing more tense over the past couple of days I already had 95% my stuff packed. I did a quick laundry and shower, then walked out of my dorm leaving behind things I didn’t have room for. I walked to the metro with my bags, a mask on my face with two spares in my backpack, and hand sanitizer in my pocket. It was a two-hour journey to get to the airport and the trains were empty aside from a few others with bags that looked like they were ready to be away for a significant amount of time. Foreigners and nationals alike. Everyone wore masks and no one sat too closely to each other.

When I entered the first layer of security at the airport, my temperature was taken. I began talking to another foreigner who was in China teaching in nearby Hangzhou. Her father told her she needed to leave the country the previous night and she booked a flight immediately after and caught a train that morning into Shanghai. There was a consensus among expats as to what the next necessary step was if you could afford it: get out.

I didn’t want to wait around in my dorm with nothing to do so I arrived at the airport some 8 or 9 hours before my flight was to depart. I put my luggage in storage and walked around. My temperature was taken another 4 or 5 times before I checked in my luggage and collected my ticket at 8:35 pm.

I was finally entering the second layer of security around 9:00 pm to get to the departure gates and my temperature was taken again. I handed in my questionnaire card that asked where I had been in the past month, if I had any symptoms and contact information. Staff with full face masks and hazmat suits guided a long line of passengers the whole way.

After clearing security, I only had limited time before boarding, so I grabbed a beer to watch a rerun of a baseball game and tried to relax before the long arduous journey home. I checked my phone and the school had sent out another message: You are not allowed to leave Shanghai. Anyone who does will forfeit their spot in their dormitory for a minimum 15 days while they self-quarantine at their own cost in a location in Shanghai. You may be forfeiting your entire scholarship as well. You must wear a mask to leave the campus and will not be allowed back on to campus if you are not wearing a mask. Classes will not resume before February 29th. Any students out of country should not come back to China.

It didn’t feel like I was in danger of contracting the Corona Virus, but it was going to be a very dull and boring existence had I stayed in China, and getting caught in country felt like one potential outcome before passing through that second layer of security at the airport.

I boarded the plane and the entire crew wore masks, 95% of the passengers wore masks as well. Other than that, it was a normal flight; they fed us often, I watched movies and tried to sleep in a seat that was too small for me. I took off at 12:00 am on January 31st arriving in San Francisco on January 30th at 6:45 pm.

I proceeded to customs in the USA and it took 2+ hours to go through this process. I longed for the efficiency of China in this moment. There is no way it would have taken that long in China. An old man also seemed to have something go wrong. He collapsed or something and was whisked off behind a curtain where 8 or 9 health officials and officers surrounded him with gloves and masks on. He was carted off and the Chinese that surrounded me speculated what was wrong. 5 or 6 of them all said, ‘It’s Corona for sure’.

I finally made it through customs, collected my bags and proceeded to security in the USA to catch my flight to Canada. Again, it was a painful experience compared to China. It was disorganized, felt dirty, unprofessional and the staff were impatient, with Chinese especially. I longed for the Chinese experience again.

There is a level of efficiency and professionalism in China, especially in transit hubs, that just doesn’t exist in the United States and to me, a lesser degree in Canada.

I found my gate in the terminal at the San Francisco Airport, grabbed a Corona and opened my computer and phone to browse a free and unrestricted world wide web without a VPN for the first time in 5 months. I wore a mask, out of habit, the whole time.

Upon boarding my flight to Canada at 10:45 pm on January 30th I wore a mask. The man I sat next to asked if I was diseased. I watched the semi-finals of the Australian Open on the flight home and arrived to anxious parents at Pearson International Airport at 7:00 am on January 31st. Customs were a breeze in Canada where I was asked where I had been in China before they waived me through. 

I got out in time; the US had shut down entry to all non-nationals that day I heard. Stage 4 began. I was happy and now relieved to have left the day early in a hurried and somewhat panicked manner. My folks were too. 

Flights were being cancelled, Canada was planning, and has just executed, the long awaited re-patriation of most citizens in Hubei province, and other countries increased restrictions for anything and anyone to do with China.

I have felt an anxiousness around me from some people given my recent return to China and in many cases, it has been quite understandable. Folks were nervous about coughing or sneezing at work or near friends because people they knew and would be around, knew I was in China and had just returned and were worried about their reactions and potential infection; I self-quarantined passing up meeting with friends and a super-bowl party just to be sure. I have talked to Toronto Public Health and I am fine. I do not have any symptoms. At this point I have been quarantined long enough according to TPH that, along with my extremely low probability of having contracted the disease, I can resume activities as I see fit.

I received this message, via WeChat, from my school this morning:

In order to guarantee the safety of students who live on campus, please understand and abide by the following regulations:

1.     From Feb. 7th, students who need to enter or leave the campus for special reasons are required to send applications to the staff who’s in charge of your program in advance and can only enter or leave the campus after being approved.

2.     Students living on campus are not allowed to stay overnight off campus at will.

Considering the current severe situation, we really suggest you not to go outside for the sake of your health and safety. Thank you for your understanding and support. We will always stay with you (will stand and be in support of you).

Since the 20th or so of January, it has been a tense and anxious existence at times. I felt in very little danger of having caught the Corona Virus, but the thought of being caught in China loomed pretty large and that is what made me most nervous. It would have been so boring and so restrictive.

A couple of extra notes:

1. I felt more vulnerable to attack or theft in the airport at San Francisco and in Canada than I did in the entirety of my time in China.

2. I saw more guns in the two North American airports (where I spent less than 5 hours total) than I did during my 5 months in China.

3. There is a lot more respect for the pedestrian from cars here in Canada than in China. I hadn’t even gotten to a corner while on a walk recently, when a car stopped and waited for me to cross when it easily could have gone safely. Something that would never, ever happen in Shanghai. I think I prefer siding with being overly cautious as opposed to getting hit by a car.

4. The air is so much cleaner here in Canada. It feels good.

5. It is nice to be able to drink tap water again.

6. My bed is so much more comfortable here, but it has taken a while to adjust to the time change.

7. It sucks how cold it is in Canada. I miss Shanghai weather where I can play outdoor tennis year-round.

I have felt myself going through reverse culture shock since I’ve been home lamenting about how some things are so much better in Shanghai and China. The lack of homeless people, the lack of sometimes what appears to be “people who are mentally unbalanced” on the street, the general lack of order in North America when compared to China. Now, after some reflection, it brings the thought to the front of my mind – where were the homeless people in China, was their employment actually that high? Where were the “people who might appear to have mental imbalances” in China? At what cost was that order achieved in China?

I think one of the great things about Canada is that if someone really wants to stand out on the street and scream weird stuff, they can, whereas when I first arrived back home, I would think to myself – uh, can’t this be more like China where we don’t see this type of thing. But it begs the question, that with an unofficial population of 1.6 billion people, where some of these people who want to scream whatever they want on the street corner certainly exist, where are they? And is the Chinese government actively rounding them up and silencing them somehow? This I don’t know, I can only guess; but the freedom we’re afforded in Canada to be whatever we want was lost on me in my first couple days back in Canada, and I’m glad I’ve had this dawning of thought about how these freedoms, even when they appear as shortcomings in our country, are great and fantastic things.

Although I am fortunate that all the people receiving this email and in my life generally are not the people I will refer to next, I wish to say the following:

Treat people who are Chinese or people who look Chinese with respect and compassion, it has been disappointing to hear reports of racism here in Canada and Toronto where people are being blamed or labeled as a danger to society for being from or having ancestry from a certain country. If you see something, and you feel safe to do so, say something, to correct someone’s behaviour when they aren’t being nice.

Visit Shanghai and China when it’s deemed safe enough to do so; for as is the case with Australia, ravaged by wild fires, this country will need our patronage. It is a wonderfully beautiful place deserving a visit for lots of reasons, including, but also beyond the experiences and things I’ve outlined in notes to you all previous.

-Bai Hù