06 February, 2020. Dr. Li Wenliang died. China received medical supplies and donations from across the world. One memorable donation package from Japan had Chinese proverbs ‘Though separated by mountains and rivers, we share one moon under the same sky.’

It later became standard for Chinese donations to other countries with a local proverb or poem. I watched France 24 news once and noticed much of its airing was devoted to Trump’s impeachment with little attention paid to China. I thought there were missing the point.

08 February, 2020. Many overseas Chinese were trying their best to get medical supplies home as Chinese factories were in low capacity due to the CNY vacation and lockdowns. Masks were still in scarcity. It was confirmed that the virus is airborne by China CDC.

I have already come back to Beijing before the 14-day mandatory quarantine notice published. The airport and the train station in Beijing were near empty and for the first time Beijing was eerily quiet. Luckily we could still go to supermarket and everyone kept social distance.

14 February, 2020. Valentines’ Day. With the whole country went quasi-lockdown, the new caseload curve finally came downward. Diamond Princess, the cruise ship where hundreds of cases were found, got world’s attention. Now the world factory finally started back to work slowly.

22 February, 2020. WHO DG said a few days ago that ‘We still have a window of opportunity to prevent a broader global crisis, thanks to China’s aggressive efforts to contain the outbreak at its source.’ Case number finally stopped increasing in several provinces.

Tourist sites started opening again though very few dare to go. Significant number of cases were found in Iran, Korea and Italy. However, no similar control measures were taken in these countries. It became evident that the window would close very soon.

24 February, 2020. One month after the CNY, Chinese economy was like a freefall and the work resumption became urgent. Traffic in Beijing was still much lower than before with millions trapped at home as they had to self-isolate for 14 days before working.

The schools would not open for another month. Cases were now found in more countries in the Middle East and also in the US. It was still hoped that this could be contained at least in Europe and the US. I finally received masks bought from a Japanese online store.

5 March, 2020. New cases were nearly all from Wuhan now and the virus spread was almost under control in other parts of China. But it was FAST spreading across the world. We started working from home and the rules for entering community were strict.

Although there were only a handful of new cases, the lockdown measures in Beijing didnt ease up. The roads to villages were mostly cut off allowing only local residents coming. I kinda enjoyed Beijing for being quiet and traffic-free.

We had thought a family friend spending CNY in Spain very lucky but soon felt worried about her. Unfortunately it was still heavily debated in the west on things like whether a mask is needed or was it just a big flu. The virus waits for nobody and wont hear your debate.

In hindersight, Wuhan lockdown was a courageous political choice given little is known about the virus then. Many including me knew it was only a matter of time for it to explode worldwide given the measures taken. Global travel became a distant dream now.

Till now, case number were rising rapidly in Italy but no country in the EU closed boarder with it. Was it politically impossible? Maybe it was not serious enough. Was it unwise not to close border? Probably not. Border control was important only when domestic controlling...

measures were in place and strongly implemented. Over a month had passed since Wuhan lockdown and controlling measures China had taken were recorded daily. Scientists and doctors understood the virus better now. Theoretically plenty of time was left for countries to get prepared.

Chinese boarder is like a Maginot Line. Once the virus got out of the Line (it clearly spreaded out earlier than Wuhan lockdown), community transmission would be unstoppble unless necessary measures were taken. Italy fell first, who will be the next?

11 March, 2020. Pandemic is declared by the WHO. Tokyo Olympics is delayed. Now it seems there would be no end of this pandemic before summer. It was spreading very fast in Europe without effective controlling measures in place. We in Beijing started to worry about imported cases

I was shocked to learn from the TV that Cheltenham Horse Racing was still held when it was apparent there was large- scale coronavirus spread in the UK. It is unbelievable as what happened in Wuhan left no lesson at all. It was common sense in China that Covid-19 is easily...

...transmittable especially in comuunities and asympomatic ppl are also infectious at this moment. It is understandable that the UK wont be able to mobilise to the extent of China but it should at least took more controlling measure rather than only asking ppl washing hands.

At this stage, some ppl including me still hoped the pandemic could be contained with drastic measures. But that hope was soon crushed with exploding cases in the US and floating theories of 'herd immunity'.

14 March, 2020. The US stock market reached circuit-breaker point several times. Like stock markets in China, it also later prove a golden buying point. Traffic finally picked up a bit in Beijing but with strict quarantine rules, public transport in the capital had never fully...

gained its pre-pandemic level. Lombardi was Wuhan in replay. Unfortunately, similar scenes kept repeating again and again throughout the year. It was around this time 'China Virus' was coined up by President Trump which connects anti-China political sentiment with pandemic.

23 March, 2020. China’s domestic transmission route was mostly cut off and there were only tens of new cases reported. I remember talking to friends on possible pandemic scenario in the US and we all thought it wont be hit that hard (except for NYC or LA) as Europe since most ppl

living in independent houses of small towns and it must be better prepared for a pandemic as the richest nation on earth. History proved us wrong.

26 March, 2020. China issued travel ban on foreign flights. 14-day quarantine was now for mandatory for all incoming ppl. Beijing lacks behind other big cities in work resumption. For the first time, the masks can be fairly easily bought but the price remained very high.

Although the WHO had not recommend healthy ppl wearing a mask till now, it was required in almost all indoor places in China. Temprature check and showing health code became daily routine. The society adjusted this new normal well and it's the economy ppl worried more about.

8 April, 2020. As the world went into lockdown mode, Wuhan lifted up lockdown after 76 days. The city was hit hard and it would took another month before things finally come to normal. School across China started again since late March.

7 May, 2020. No domestic case in 4 days and schools finally opened up in Wuhan. The masks are now easily bought anywhere at a normal price, signaling the end of domestic pandemic and resumption of factories.

Now the pandemic spreads across the world, no one would expect to get back to normal life soon and hopes were on vaccines. Small clusters broke out in China sporadically linked with imported cases. Lockdown became a standard procedure in dealing with new cases.

13 June, 2020. Took first business trip out of Beijing for a week and came back with news of a new cluster emerging in the capital linking with imported frozen seafood. It took about a month for Beijing to clear all cases. Meanwhile, BLM movement was still going on in the US.

Massive protest, massive gatherings, it all looked natural hotbeds for virus spreading to me. Apparently fighting Covid-19 was not a priority. Election was.

During the later half year, Chinese economy finally picked up and exports soared while domestic consumption lacked behind. Domestic transmission was nearly all cut off for a few months with strict quarantine rules for all incoming flights and personnel in place. Masks are still..

...commonly seen in the streets while some more stringent measures were gone. The coronavirus made a comeback in a few places including Beijing in December which are mostly connected to imported food or personnel. Dozens of cases were found.

Positive cases were found among some ppl who had already completed 14-day quarantine with having negative testing results before. It is generally no problem travelling around the country. Few will count case numbers abroad now, it's like a war sees no end.