Beijing: After staying at home for more than a month, Chain Chunmei joins a long line of customers at a popular Beijing Restaurant where diners tuck into large bowls of crayfish after the easing of COVID restrictions in the Chinese capital.
Last month, the city of 22 million barred people from eating out, closed gyms and shut down dozens of subway stations to try to stamp out a coronavirus outbreak.
Now restrictions are finally being eased, including for restaurants.
“I’m very excited, mainly because we were laid off for so long,” Chen told AFP.
“I’ve been ordering takeout or cooking food every day. I really wanted to come out for a meal.”
At its peak, Beijing recorded just dozens of infections every day.
But officials in China are committed to a zero-Covid strategy – using rapid lockdowns, mass testing and severe travel restrictions to quell even the smallest of outbreaks.
Chen, 28, said her premises were initially closed for two weeks, but when she was allowed to leave, a nearby subway station was shut down.
“Since then, I was staying at home,” she said. “At first I thought working from home was great but after a while, I got bored.”
As Beijing’s case numbers fell – it reported just two local asymptomatic infections on Tuesday – officials told residents they could return to work this week, while schools would reopen from June 13.
Universal Beijing resort said it would reopen on June 15, while Chinese media reported that cinemas and gyms in most areas would run at 75 percent capacity from this week.
Dine-in at restaurants has also mostly resumed, although restrictions are still in place in two districts due to recent Covid cases.
– ‘Losing money’ – While officials stick to their zero-Covid policy, its economic costs have piled up.
Traders in Beijing told AFP that a large chunk of their earnings last month.
“Our revenue for the month of May fell nearly 65 percent year-on-year,” said zhang shengtaoDirector of Operations at Beijing HUDA Catering.
He said the income of employees at the restaurant chain, which employs about 800 people, also declined by about 30 per cent in the last month.
Some people heaved a sigh of relief on Monday as restrictions on dining-in were eased.
“I’m longing to start again,” said Wu Ziwen, manager of the restaurant chain Nanjing Dapedang.
“There is no doubt we were losing money,” he told AFP, adding that the outlet has been dependent on food delivery to survive.
Beijing’s resumption of dine-in is still partial, however: due to COVID controls, his restaurant can only accept up to 50 percent of regular capacity “even if customers are inundated,” Wu said.
Beijing requires people to test negative within three days if they want to take public transportation or enter office buildings.
The outbreak in the capital has also kept visitors like the 33-year-old sun tao Shanxi from returning home.
The rest of the meal gave him some relief.
“I’m nervous and alert,” said Sun, who left the hotel with his wife on Monday evening waiting for a table at a restaurant.
“But I also wanted to relish my taste buds.”
Last month, the city of 22 million barred people from eating out, closed gyms and shut down dozens of subway stations to try to stamp out a coronavirus outbreak.
Now restrictions are finally being eased, including for restaurants.
“I’m very excited, mainly because we were laid off for so long,” Chen told AFP.
“I’ve been ordering takeout or cooking food every day. I really wanted to come out for a meal.”
At its peak, Beijing recorded just dozens of infections every day.
But officials in China are committed to a zero-Covid strategy – using rapid lockdowns, mass testing and severe travel restrictions to quell even the smallest of outbreaks.
Chen, 28, said her premises were initially closed for two weeks, but when she was allowed to leave, a nearby subway station was shut down.
“Since then, I was staying at home,” she said. “At first I thought working from home was great but after a while, I got bored.”
As Beijing’s case numbers fell – it reported just two local asymptomatic infections on Tuesday – officials told residents they could return to work this week, while schools would reopen from June 13.
Universal Beijing resort said it would reopen on June 15, while Chinese media reported that cinemas and gyms in most areas would run at 75 percent capacity from this week.
Dine-in at restaurants has also mostly resumed, although restrictions are still in place in two districts due to recent Covid cases.
– ‘Losing money’ – While officials stick to their zero-Covid policy, its economic costs have piled up.
Traders in Beijing told AFP that a large chunk of their earnings last month.
“Our revenue for the month of May fell nearly 65 percent year-on-year,” said zhang shengtaoDirector of Operations at Beijing HUDA Catering.
He said the income of employees at the restaurant chain, which employs about 800 people, also declined by about 30 per cent in the last month.
Some people heaved a sigh of relief on Monday as restrictions on dining-in were eased.
“I’m longing to start again,” said Wu Ziwen, manager of the restaurant chain Nanjing Dapedang.
“There is no doubt we were losing money,” he told AFP, adding that the outlet has been dependent on food delivery to survive.
Beijing’s resumption of dine-in is still partial, however: due to COVID controls, his restaurant can only accept up to 50 percent of regular capacity “even if customers are inundated,” Wu said.
Beijing requires people to test negative within three days if they want to take public transportation or enter office buildings.
The outbreak in the capital has also kept visitors like the 33-year-old sun tao Shanxi from returning home.
The rest of the meal gave him some relief.
“I’m nervous and alert,” said Sun, who left the hotel with his wife on Monday evening waiting for a table at a restaurant.
“But I also wanted to relish my taste buds.”