AreaRead the video transcript expand here
Finally people on the streets again.
After around two months in a hard lockdown, Shanghai lifted some corona measures on June 1, including the strict curfew.
Cameron Wilson, Scotsman in Shanghai:
»No one really believed in it.
When it actually happened, it was a surprise.
It was expected that they would open gradually, slowly.
But it wasn't like that.
They just opened the gates and everyone poured out.
And here we are now.«
Cameron Wilson has lived in the city for 17 years.
He just found a video on the internet.
That's roughly how you should imagine the moment of opening, he says.
Cameron Wilson, Scotsman in Shanghai:
»The only thing that would be better for me than this video would be if the second we were allowed out, I could have really walked straight to a metal concert, right outside the gates our block.
I would have jumped in the mosh pit and hopped around with crazy metal fans.
I don't even like Metal.
But it would have been the best thing of all if I could have done it at that moment.«
How great the pressure on the 26 million inhabitants must have been during the state-imposed lockdown can be seen everywhere on the streets.
Cameron Wilson, Scotsman in Shanghai:
»I'm really looking forward to having a beer with friends.
And I'm so excited to go back to the office.
Something I never thought I'd say.
It's come to that."
Not everything is back to normal yet.
Shopping, taking the subway or going to the office - all this is only allowed with a negative PCR test that must not be older than 72 hours.
Cameron Wilson, Scotsman in Shanghai:
»The next few days and weeks will be very difficult.
I've already seen that many people are posting pictures and videos of long lines in front of the test stations.
I think people will get tired of it very quickly.«
Meanwhile, state television is celebrating the opening with colorful images as a victory for China's zero-Covid policy.
Cameron Wilson, Scotsman in Shanghai:
»I can understand people's euphoria when they are now being let out of their homes again after two months.
But to celebrate that as a win is just bizarre.
It's like celebrating a victory in football after only a minute has been played.
Omicron is still out there.
It's all over the world.
It is inevitable that one day it will spread to China as well.
I don't understand what they're celebrating.
Instead, one should mourn for the people who have died.
The people who committed suicide in lockdown.
The people who died because they didn't have medical care.
And everyone else who has scars from that experience.
You should think of them, not of a supposed victory.
That's just ridiculous."
For the first time ever, Wilson says, during lockdown he wondered if he really wanted to continue living in China.
“I would say it was really traumatic, to be honest. Especially in some phases in the beginning when we weren't sure if we would get food or not. It hasn't changed what culture we live in. I really enjoyed my life in China before lockdown and I've been here for 17 years. And if I didn't like it, if I didn't really feel affection for this culture, I wouldn't have stayed that long. But what happened raised really serious questions for me. About what life in China means to people from elsewhere. And I think there's a lot to think about. I just hope I never have to go through that again. It's such a uniquely bad experience. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy."
