No Masks in China, A Major Shock
I’ve lived in a 24/7 mask world throughout my three years in China. Yet, things are changing.
I’m not here to talk about the politics of masks, whether they’re stupid or not. No matter how I feel about shows, I wear them throughout my day to respect the norm of the country I live in and the people around me.
Qingdao is the tier two (near one) city I call home here in China. With around 11 million residents, it’s considered small by Chinese standards. Even though the zero-Covid policy has been lifted within China since January, masks have continued to dominate the streets.
If you walk around without a mask, you’re likely the only person doing so. I’ve continued to wear mine when I’m out and about as to not cause any hubbub.
This past weekend my girlfriend and I took a vacation to Shenzhen, one of the biggest cities not only in China but in the world. The stark contrast was amazing to me.
No Masks in Shenzhen
We noticed it right when we went to the airport. Absolutely no one was wearing masks while heading to arrivals. This is in stark contrast to the streets of Qingdao.
At first, we were taken aback by it all, looking at each other like:
Can we really take our masks off in here?
Subway stations and the airport are pretty heavily guarded within Qingdao, if you take off your mask, you’ll immediately be asked to put it back on. So when we saw a mask-less Shenzhen subway station, we were astonished.
It was nice to see the faces of the people we walked by. It felt like the people around me were human again, compared to the white covers that I’d gotten so used to seeing day in and day out.
Truly, it’s crazy to think about how normalized constant masking has become to me. The fact that seeing individuals not wearing masks was such a surprise for me really made me think of the past three years and the experiences we’ve all had through the pandemic.
Returning to Qingdao
Upon returning to Qingdao, the joys of maskless life came to an abrupt halt. As we walked through arrivals security guards were asking us yet again to put our masks on.
It’s rather curious, as there are no restrictions or legislation that demands us to wear masks. Yet, there’s no use in arguing with the dabai, so we agree and move along.
I long for this small taste of “freedom” again. Yet, the fact that I have to say that is pretty concerning.
Freedom to not cover our face. In actuality it’s such a small inconsequential problem to face compared to many others in our world. It makes me quite ashamed to even call it a “problem” in the first place.
Yet, here I am in Qingdao. Writing this post in my classroom, mask on. I guess we’ll see what happens from here.
What’s your mask experience abroad? Comment down below!
I typically write about all things expat and China. You can find more JUST like it on my Medium landing page, where I cover all things expat and China-related.
I’m also a freelance copywriter; if you want to contact me about the services I offer, you can contact me via my portfolio website.
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