Corona virus: China returns to normal.

The Chinese flag flies along the rows of houses, there are advanced flower arrangements, and bus trips to famous tourist destinations are full.

China is in the middle of a super weekend when the national day October 1 and the autumn festival, also called the lunar festival, coincide this year. This means an eight-day license and is seen as proof of how China is doing after the country, for the moment at least, has gained control of the covid-19.

For many, this is it first opportunity to travel since the virus broke out and the relief is great. Residents no longer have to be quarantined after traveling inland and are eager to break isolation.

– This is the first time we have traveled since the virus broke out. It’s very exciting, says Yang Li, who is visiting Beijing with her mother Jin.

Jin eats the local specialty komage from a paper cup at a street stall, as hordes of people pass through the shopping street in an alley by Hohai Lake in central Beijing.

The same street was completely dead when I visited it in early March. Business owners wondered how long they would survive, and an eerie silence spread like a depression over the city.

Now the sound image is a loud murmur. Electric mopeds honk their horns angrily as they embark on the project something impossible to pass through the masses of tourists who are in no hurry.

The scene is one of many which shows that Beijing, like the rest of China, is heading towards some kind of normalcy after covid-19. The contrast to the sense of doom with closed shops and empty streets earlier this year is stark.

Behind the change there are fewer and fewer infected with the virus. Since August 15, not a single local differential has been recorded in China, all new cases have been imported and are down to double digits a day.

Many people now seem to feel confident that the virus has been controlled.

– We are not so concerned that the virus will reappear, says Yang Li.

For her, spring was A judgment. She is a private English teacher for children ages 6 to 8 and has so far taught students online.

– Now we really have lessons again and I’m happy about that. There were fewer who wanted online teaching and there won’t be such great lessons either.

The mother and daughter have traveled five hours by high-speed train from Northeast China’s Liaoning Province and plan to stay in Beijing for a week.

They are not the only ones who travel during the eight days of vacation. People crowd into trains, planes, and road queues to visit famous or familiar sights. People in much of the world right now can only dream of doing.

A total of 550 million is estimated travel during the golden week, according to official sources. From the government’s point of view, the hope is that the license will provide a much-needed injection into the hotel and retail industry. The concept of “revenge tourism” has been launched in the state media. An expression of the hope that people have a suppressed need to travel and consume more than usual after sitting in isolation.

However, it is not really possible on rails. In total, more trips, 782 million, were made during last year’s fall break.

And while China is on its way back and factories are up and running again, the pandemic has left deep scars. Many Chinese had to nibble on their savings when the country was isolated and jobs disappeared.

And while China is on its way back and factories are up and running again, the pandemic has left deep scars. Many Chinese had to nibble on their savings when the country was isolated and jobs disappeared. Along the streets of Beijing you can see shops and restaurants that have been forced to clap again.

The most affected is China 289 million migrant workers, people from rural areas who take work in big cities but cannot register there, nor do they enjoy rights such as unemployment benefits. It is not clear how many of them lost their jobs or left for their hometowns, they are not included in the official statistics. But there are many signs that the virus crisis has widened China’s already large income gaps.

At the same time, there are industries whose sales have completely disappeared.

– I have not had any work since the virus broke out, says Wang Zheng.

He works as a guide in a travel company that focuses on Northerners coming to China and Chinese traveling to Nordic countries.

Now the tourist has fallen and Wang Zheng has been compensated with 1,700 yuan a month compensation from the employer, who also paid his social security contributions.

She thanks her lucky star who was born in Beijing and has the benefits that city residents get. Plus, you have low housing costs, money in the bank, and as a single you only need to support yourself. However, the pandemic has affected him mentally.

– Sometimes it is difficult to be mentally trapped. I am used to traveling abroad several times a year and now I have been forced to stop.

When the craving gets too great watch movies where people travel a lot, relive the airports they’ve been to, and long for.

Since the end of August, due to lack of the opportunity to travel abroad, he has started traveling to China. He soon discovered that he is not the only Chinese who has become interested in his own country.

Since the end of August, due to lack of the opportunity to travel abroad, he has started traveling to China. He soon discovered that he is not the only Chinese who has become interested in his own country.

– Hotels are usually full, not only in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai, but also in smaller cities. And the prices can be very high.

During the golden week, avoid congestion on roads and hotels and stay in Beijing. The New York Times reports that hotel reservations in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, are up 600 percent compared to last year. At the same time, Wuhan, where the virus broke out, has become one of the most popular tourist destinations in China.

For Fan Li, who runs a travel agency focused on international business travel, the fall festival is far from golden.

– When the virus broke out, our sales disappeared completely. Now it’s started a bit, but it’s only at 10 percent of normal levels. For us, it’s just about surviving.

She believes it will be some time before international travel resumes.

– There are so many things uncertain. The virus is still spreading to the rest of the world, the Chinese must be quarantined when they have been abroad and many Chinese companies have less finances now than before the virus and therefore do not invest as much in international travel, says Fan Li.

In total, the number is calculated Domestic tourists in China will be 43 percent lower than last year, according to the China Tourism Academy.

For many people, being able to be outdoors at home is enough.

– We can finally go out, exclaims Yu Xinyua, a resident of Beijing.

On his stomach he carries his seven-month-old daughter, Meng An Ning, who was born when the spread of the infection was worst. Since then, the family has mostly stayed indoors to protect their newborn who is unable to wear a mouth guard.

– Now we enjoy the fresh air. Meng never wants to go in, says Yu Xinyua and makes Meng laugh when he takes some dance steps.

For Yu Xinyua, covid-19 meant that she was forced to give birth with a mouth guard on and was only allowed to stay in the hospital for a day after giving birth. Now she and her husband Meng Yue have some concerns that the virus will return.

– You can’t be completely sure, says Meng Yue.

We meet them at the ancient bell and drum towers in Beijing, which is a popular tourist attraction. A group plays behind the wheel, jianzi, in the square and the children run.

Change from that Ningzia Autonomous Province in northwest China is happy to have been able to travel to Beijing with her mother and mother-in-law. Also, you can finally go back to the office where you work.

– Feels pretty safe now. There are many people here. But most people seem to protect themselves, she says and points to her mouth.

Mouth guards are no longer an outdoor requirement in Beijing, although many still wear them. Most things are in full swing. People queue for popular restaurants, it is crowded on popular lanes, as well as at airports and train stations. Last week, the car show in the capital was packed, the week before a fair was held that drew thousands. Social distance feels like history.

The authorities encourage consumption. “Have fun, consume for a beautiful life”, reads a slogan that the party has been proclaiming for a month.

They hope that the golden week will stimulate the economy, whose continued growth is crucial to the legitimacy of the Communist Party. It remains to be seen whether this year’s tourists spend as much as last year, SEK 85 billion.