China ushered in the Year of the Rabbit on Sunday.
On this Chinese New Year celebration on Sunday, millions of Chinese made their way to their relatives in crowded trains. After several years of separation forced by strict corona measures, many families were able to celebrate the most important Chinese holiday together again. New Year’s Day on January 22 heralded the “Year of the Rabbit”.
After the end of measures
The relaxation of the strict corona measures in recent weeks has enabled most Chinese people to go back to a largely normal everyday life, and travel to other regions of the country is also permitted again.
However, the number of corona infections has exploded after the end of the zero-Covid policy. In view of the expected wave of travel, President Xi Jinping had expressed concern that visiting relatives could bring the virus from cities to rural areas, where medical care is much worse than in the cities.
great joy
“We can’t wait to see our parents,” Li, 35, told AFP. She was on the train from Shanghai to Wuhan with her child and her husband to surprise her relatives who live there. In order to get the train tickets, she set her alarm clock for 5 a.m. all week long. She’s not worried, Li said. Her relatives in Wuhan had only recently recovered from her corona infection.
The first corona cases were detected in the central city of Wuhan at the end of 2019. At the beginning of the corona pandemic, the city was completely sealed off from the outside world for 76 days.
The rapid increase in the number of infections in China since the measures were lifted has sparked concern around the world. Many EU countries, including Germany, require travelers from the People’s Republic to have a negative corona test. (AFP)