Author: Robin EWING

When the pandemic began, I was still a student. Apart from lockdowns and online classes, I did not feel the direct economic impact of COVID-19.

I still remember the cancellation of the back-to-school notice I received in 2020 before the Chinese New Year holiday and communities getting locked down, forcing us all to stay at home.

Li Hua often hears his parents’ repeated warnings: “You must get a civil service job,” or “Get a public institution job,” or “Get an iron rice bowl.”

One evening in June 2020, not long after Guangzhou had emerged from its first Covid lockdown, I stepped outside my apartment.

The term “COVID-19” may sound less urgent today, with the most intense phase of the pandemic now over five years behind us.