Ten days after hunkering down in my Beijing home from Jan 23th to Feb 1st, all I wanted was a breath of fresh air. Given the surge of the coronavirus infections and deaths of course I was well aware of the risk of going outside, but I was desperate to get out and to see what Beijing would look like amidst the epidemic. The usually bustling city center to which Yezi offered to drive me has become eerily empty and quiet. We could actually count the total number of people we met in all of the three hours we were there. I also wandered around my neighborhood in Haidian which has been kept in semi-quarantine. The only gate of four that remains open to our apartment complex was guarded by a group of people who check the temperature of all residents as they venture in and out. When I felt everything had gotten stuck I saw my 78-year-old grandma practicing Taiji at home with intense concentration. At that moment the demoralization of spirit that had overcome me vanished as if by magic. Now I hope the epidemic will vanish similarly and soon.

If I could see you again