China’s ‘zero-COVID’ restrictions curb holiday travel

BEIJING (AP) — Only a trickle of visitors strolled the pedestrian-only streets Sunday in central Beijing's historic Qianmen district, which normally would be bustling with tourists on what was a national holiday and a sunny spring day.

Many Chinese marked a quiet May Day this year as the government's “zero-COVID” approach restricts travel and enforces lockdowns in multiple cities.

Millions remain restricted to their buildings or compounds in Shanghai, China's largest city, under a lockdown that has only slightly eased.

Under an order announced the previous afternoon, all Beijing restaurants were closed to dine-in customers Sunday and can offer only takeout and delivery through the end of the national holiday on Wednesday. Parks and tourist attractions in the Chinese capital are limited to half capacity.

The Universal Studios theme park, which opened last year, said it had shut down temporarily.

In Qianmen, the touristy neighbourhood around the street that leads to the imposing gates of the former imperial palace, some people bought food from stalls and ate on outdoor benches. Wang Liying said sales at her noodle and stir-fry restaurant have plunged 98% during the holiday compared to last year.

“The remaining 2% is very little for us,” she said. “There is not much we can do with the pandemic.”

The virus situation varies across the vast nation of 1.4 billion people, but the Transport Ministry said last week that it expected 100 million trips to be taken from Saturday to Wednesday, which would be down 60% from last year. Many of those who are travelling are staying within their province as local governments discourage or restrict cross-border travel to try to keep out new infections.

China is sticking to a strict “zero-COVID” policy even as many other countries are easing restrictions and seeing if they can live with the virus. Much of Shanghai — a finance, manufacturing and shipping hub — remains locked down, disrupting people's lives and dealing a blow to the economy.

The major outbreak in Shanghai, where the death toll has topped 400, appears to be easing. The city recorded about 7,200 new locally transmitted cases on Saturday, down from a peak of 27,605 on April 13. Outside of Shanghai, only 364 new cases were found in the rest of mainland China.

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