The Stars are Out
At last some positive news, China's newly-updated COVID-19 Control Protocol has removed the * on our ‘Green Arrow Codes’.
Theoretically, this means that travel will become unrestricted within the Chinese mainland. Until now, the * has denoted that you have been in a ‘Medium Risk Area’, which curtails your ability to travel to certain places. At one point earlier this year, I had collected three of them, and needed to quickly return home to Shanghai before my luck ran out.
Let’s see how this plays out, since the surprise announcement just came out today, and it might take a while for certain Provinces to change their policies. But for now, it’s a small step in the right direction.
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Dystopia Level Silver
So we’ve reached the crappy milestone of our 50th day of lockdown in Shanghai. That’s 9 days in March, and 41 consecutive days since April 1st. Dystopia Level Silver unlocked.
Despite official reports that the number of cases are going down, the lockdown has perversely become even stricter. In our district, more barricades are going up; fewer deliveries are being allowed; and now if even one person tests positive in your building, *everyone* gets carted off to central quarantine. It’s yet another doubling down on the exponential lunacy of Zero-COVID. What once could be seen as a policy with some degree of merit has long since become detached from the bounds of logic. The same singular strategy that has prevented us from stepping outside of China since February 2020 is now preventing us from stepping outside of our compound. Zero-COVID has overtaken Omicron in terms of its indiscriminate menace.
We’re surviving on a diet of cheap distractions. Denny has something called a ‘job’, which appears to keep him busy. Apart from that, it’s down to the basic routines of eating, drinking, and looking at willies on the internet. The whole city has taken a bumpy nosedive down Maslow’s pyramid, and we still don’t know when we’ll reach rock bottom.
We’re so lucky to be locked in together. We’re a good team: he does most of the cooking and cleaning; while I do most of the deliveries and dishwashing, and quiet sobbing in a foetal position. Despite a universe of anxiety, our little solar system is still spinning on its constant axis of jokes and hugs. I would rather not have another 50 days of this. But I’m grateful that we’ve been through it together.
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Digital Scavenging
So far Denny and I have been locked into our compound - in 2 stints - for a total of 24 days. In all this time there has never once been a positive case of COVID-19 in our lane, and it’s becoming clear that this fact doesn’t have any bearing on our ongoing collective imprisonment. We’re getting a little taste of what it means to be under extra-judicial house arrest. Shanghai has temporarily become a city of ten thousand modern gleaming mini Warsaw ghettos.
Before you worry, Denny and I are still doing fine. I’m checking in with friends and acquaintances across the city, and they’re also all doing fine, to varying degrees. None of us will starve. But on a daily basis we are all being forced to reflect on our primal needs for food, freedom, shelter and sanitation. In Chinese, one of the most common ways of greeting someone is ”吃饭了吗?” meaning “Have you eaten?” It’s only now that I’m realising the history of deprivation that must lie behind that phrase. Today, the first thing we say to each other over calls and texts is: “Do you have enough food”?
If you ask anyone in Shanghai what they’re doing, the answer will most likely revolve around food. Digital scavenging for online provisions before they sell out; keeping up with hundreds of text messages to bid for collective purchases; doing inventories of fridges and rearranging the contents in order of what’s rotting first; rationing ingredients; planning meals; preparing meals; cooking meals; washing up after meals: it’s an endless obsessive cycle. And a short sharp kick in the backside to a city that had become reliant on an over-abundance of restaurants and delivery services. Fancy diets are out the window at this point. We’re counting our carrots, preserving our potatoes, and oil is liquid gold.
This level of food scarcity may well be familiar to many who experienced some kind of lockdown over the last two years. But it’s freedom that’s in just as short supply in Shanghai. I don’t want to go into all of that right now. But let it be another wake-up call to those who complained about being encouraged to take vaccines, or politely asked to wear masks in grocery stores. Please have some perspective, your human rights will be just fine.
We’re still keeping healthy and happy, and in the last couple of days we’ve managed to get our hands on some butter, frozen steaks, and wine. This already makes us feel like some of the luckiest people in the city. So I’m not trying to elicit sympathy with this post, I just want to keep everyone up to date. Many many thanks to everyone who has been in touch, it really means a lot. I don’t plan on writing other updates after this, so you can assume that this will be the status quo until further notice. That’s going to be our assumption too.
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Noodle Art
I haven’t posted anything for the last couple of weeks because I’ve been busy making this self-portrait out of noodles.
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*No, I’ve had a stinking cold and have been sneezing and coughing all week. I used a photo filter app called Prisma to create this image in 10 seconds.
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100,000 Downloads
A big thank you to everyone who helped Mosaic of China achieve its 100,000th download at the beginning of this month.
It's still a modest project, but I'm grateful for every single person who has taken the time to engage with these stories.
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Sixty Stories
Yes, there’s a podcast about China that is both informative… and fun.
Leaving aside political and ideological differences, there’s much to be learnt from the stories of people living their lives in China. Whether you’re in the arts, business or science, every episode will provoke your curiosity and challenge your assumptions, no matter where in the world you live.
A big thank you to all 60 guests who have so far appeared on Mosaic of China, and a special thanks to everyone who joined us at the end-of-Season party in Shanghai.
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Almost a Perfect Match
This is my new Facebook avatar.
Rather than include realistic wrinkles, I just need enough Botox now to make it match...
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40,000 Downloads
In the big scheme of things, 40,000 downloads is very modest. But I’m deeply grateful for each and every one of them.
Thank you to everyone here for all your support of the Mosaic of China podcast. I’m looking forward to Round 2!
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Brand New Steps
If you’re coming out of (or making plans to come out of) self-quarantine, here’s some quick advice from two months in the future.
Going back to your old routines is GREAT, no doubt about it. But now is also the best time to create some new ones. For better or worse (mostly worse) you’ve been forced to step out of your normal daily life for a couple of months. When else will you be given this chance to reinvent yourself?*
I suffer occasionally from light depression, and it gets way worse when I’m not active. So quarantine wasn’t easy, and I’ve been in a bit of a funk ever since. But what’s really helped is setting a new goal of walking AT LEAST 10,000 steps per day. Going from three months of limited activity in February up to a daily average of 14,156 steps in June has been a lifesaver, and I hope I can build this into my daily routine going forward.
*And yes, the snarky answer to this question is: “during the second wave”. Beijing is going back into temporary lock-down as we speak. But as of now, we’re still hopeful that the same won’t happen here in Shanghai...
A Plethora of Platforms
I recently did an audit, and have discovered the Mosaic of China podcast listed on 53 different podcasting platforms. FIFTY THREE! This *does* include two platforms in China (喜马拉雅 and 微博) but it *doesn't* include those Android apps that I can't access from my Apple phone. So I'm assuming the total number would be even higher.
My questions to both podcasting fans and professionals are:
What did I miss in my audit? I believe I've curated the most comprehensive list, but tell me if I'm wrong. New podcasting platforms seem to be popping up on the daily.
Does anyone have a sense of when we can expect some consolidation in this space? Or is this confusing podcasting multiverse forever here to stay?
A Symbol of Hope
On January 20th, I instagrammed a photo from the Shanghai Disney Resort. By January 24th, the park was closed, and it would remain so for over 100 days.
Today, it is the first Disneyland resort in the world to reopen, with reduced capacity and a slew of extra density control, screening and sanitation measures.
If ever the world needed an image that symbolises the hope of a scrupulously planned road to recovery, then the time is now and this is it.
The first episode of the Mosaic of China podcast was with Philippe Gas, who was the President and General Manager of the Shanghai Disney Resort. Despite my newbie technical errors, it’s still one of my favourite interviews of the season. Let’s hope Philippe’s philosophy of positivity and international cooperation will be another message of encouragement for the future.
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The First Thirty Tiles
One podcast season. Thirty human stories. 一个播客节目。三十个人类故事。
Revealing China through the lens of journalism, fashion, technology, food, theatre, diplomacy, marketing, hospitality, art, invention, beauty, history, touring, luxury, music, diversity, playwriting, sport, entertainment, language, jewelry, comedy, business, wellbeing, broadcasting, addiction, dance, entrepreneurship, film, and... fish. 🐟
Each episode is around 25-minutes long, designed to be entertaining and informative without overstaying it’s welcome.
I want to say a big thank you to all 30 guests in the first season of Mosaic of China, to all the individuals and organisations who have supported the project, and of course to you for listening. It has been a pleasure to share these stories with you.
Getting Through the Traudom
I have coined a new phrase for our times. It’s “traudom”: a mixture of trauma and boredom.
Embracing a hobby is a great way to get through today’s traudom. Please take inspiration from the creative talent of Denny Newell, who has spent the last 26+ days creating a cocktail-themed alphabet book. Not only did this labour keep him happily distracted for hours each day, but the thought of sampling these cocktails together in the future has helped to keep smiles on our faces.
Stay Healthy and Stay Happy
A message to friends.
Thank you so much for your electronic support over the last 6 weeks. You have helped keep me sane, and keep me smiling. I will not forget it.
For many of you, the situation is now reversed, and you’re at the beginning of your surreal journey into the OCD Wonderland of self-isolation. I imagine I will be posting less from Shanghai and instead be trying to return the favour as much as possible.
Stay healthy and stay happy everyone, they’re both as important as eachother.
❤️🖤🧡💜💛💙💚🤎
The Epidemiologist, The Citizen, and The Privacy Advocate
The pandemic is going to be studied for many years to come. Not just by virologists, but by social scientists and technology ethicists.
The latest development in Shanghai has been the 随申办 (Suíshēnbàn) app. It’s a service you download onto your phone that runs a continuous contagion assessment on you. It’s not mandatory, but for the last two weeks it has been getting increasingly difficult to enter certain buildings without showing your colour code.
Green means you are clear to enter. Orange or red means you can’t enter, and you should consult medical experts as soon as possible. Maybe it knows you’re a confirmed COVID-19 patient. Maybe you’ve arrived from outside China and shouldn’t be out of quarantine yet. Maybe it tracked you to a metro car with someone who later tested positive for the virus.
It’s an epidemiologist’s dream. It’s a citizen’s electronic peace of mind. And it’s a privacy advocate’s dystopian nightmare.
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Halfway Through Season 1
With 15 episodes released, we have now reached the halfway point of Season 1 of Mosaic of China. It’s a podcast series of short interviews with interesting people, designed to be entertaining no matter how much you know (or don’t know!) about China.
Let me know your thoughts if you have the chance to listen. And big thanks to everyone who has helped with the project so far, including Milo de Prieto Desmond for editing support, Denny Newell for graphic design support, and Alston Gong for China technical support.
I Added One More Podcast To The Giant Podcast Bin
I’m excited to be launching the new Mosaic of China podcast.
A Shout-Out To Warwick Law School
Warwick Law School asked me to write something that would help attract more students from Asia to its undergraduate law course. Here's what I came up with.
