CHINA
Country Overview:
“Love the food, hate the government”
I arrived in China in May 2013 and left August 2020. I taught English for awhile, did my master’s of politics & foreign policy at Tsinghua University, worked for a year at China Today, and then two years at Xinhua News Agency. I spent most of my time in Beijing, but also traveled to Shanghai, Wuhan, Inner Mongolia, Shenzhen, Panjin, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Qingdao, Xi’an, Sanya, Macau, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.
Taobao Delivery Delayed
Got this message when I tried to buy something on Taobao. Wuhan might be on complete lockdown, but Beijing isn’t much better. Gyms are closed, deliveries are on hold, flights in and out of China are hit or miss (most are temporarily suspended until the end the of March or April), only half of the restaurants are open and able to deliver food, and most malls are only open until 6 or 7 pm (with many of the stores inside closed).
Currently working from home until I receive notice that I need to go back to the office, which who knows when that will be. I’d like to go travel and work from home from somewhere else, but I don’t know when I need to be back and not sure if I’d have to do a quarantine upon arrival — which would defeat the point of leaving anyway.
This is not how I thought I’d be spending my final months in China, but then again, it’s a fitting way to end my 7 year relationship with this country.