Postcard from Dinggou: how word of virus brought life in one Chinese town far from Wuhan to a standstill
- Preparations for one family’s Lunar New Year celebrations in Jiangsu province were turned on their heads in 24 hours
- Health and safety fears keep relatives apart and streets empty as residents refuse to venture out amid coronavirus fears
The Lunar New Year is the longest and most significant festival in the Chinese calendar, but celebrations were muted when the Year of the Rat began on January 25.
People travel home in their millions, preparing to celebrate with food and drink and to dance to music in streets decorated in bright red, yellow and gold colours. However, as I found out, this year’s festivities took a rather different turn as authorities in central Hubei province tried to get to the bottom of an outbreak of respiratory disease linked to a food market in the city of Wuhan.
Laden with gifts, my wife and I and our two-year-old daughter arrived in my in-laws’ hometown of Dinggou, near Jiangdu in eastern Jiangsu province, from London on January 20. This year’s celebrations were meant to be extra special as we were also planning to mark my 40th birthday. More than 100 people were on the guest list for a party that was more than six months in the planning.
Our first three days in Dinggou went without incident. Just like every other family, we were busy cleaning, spending a couple of days before the holiday on chores as it’s considered bad luck to do housework on Lunar New Year itself.
