A man puts on a mask for his wife under the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge on August 11, 2020.
COVID-19 survivor Pan Lanzhen poses for a photo in Wuhan on August 11, 2020. Pan was one of the first groups of patients taken to shelter hospitals in Wuhan and discharged from the hospital in May, 2020.
Balloons in the sky after a New Year Countdown event by the Yangtze River in Wuhan, on January 1, 2021.
A man puts on a mask for his wife under the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge on August 11, 2020.
Covid-19: Post-Recovery Wuhan
These pictures were taken during my two trips to Wuhan in 2020, four months after the "lockdown" in August and the New Year's Day holiday at the end of December 2020.
This is not strictly hard news reportage of Covid-19 outbreak in Wuhan, but more focusing on ordinary lives amid the pandemic in the city. As a full-time photo editor then, unfortunately I didn't have the chance to Wuhan when the city was in a 76-day lockdown. Since the outbreak of Covid-19, I have edited a large number of pictures taken in Wuhan, including my colleagues sent to Wuhan and photojournalists from local media in Wuhan.
When I went to Wuhan for the first time in August 2020, I went to all locations that frequcently appeared in captions of pictures related to pandemic in Wuhan that I edited—Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, a place believed to be the “Ground Zero” site of COVID-19, Hankou Railway Station, Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, Wuchang Fangcang shelter hospital, Jianghanguan Building, etc.
I met 61-year-old Pan Lanzhen, a Covid-19 survivor who were among the first group of patients treated at the Fangcang shelter hospital. I met Zhang Jinnong, the director of the emergency department in Wuhan Union Hospital, emphasized that "it’s too early to call it post-pandemic era now". I met Li Daowen, who was an employee at the Huanan Seafood Market before the pandemic. Li talked about the abandoned half-built housing issues that could not be solved in his hometown, and believed that Wuhan had become his second hometown even though what happened in the city in 2020 caused huge financial loss for him.
At the end of 2020, when this special year was coming to an end, I visited Wuhan again during the New Year's Day holiday. Small business owners on the second floor of the Huanan Seafood Market are still worried, there were still not many customers. At one booth, I saw a small notebook of a merchant copying two lines of poems that were written about 1,300 years ago, "Guanshan Mountain is difficult to cross, who feels sorry for the one who lost his way?” Around the market, there were still policemen on duty, but the traffic flow has obviously increased a lot than in August, and even some citizens began to quarrel in the street because of traffic collisions on the road near the market.
At an island in the Yangtze River, I met three young people who spent their holiday together. In the early stage of the epidemic, one worked at the fever clinic, one worked at the isolation hotel, and the other was in charge of sending patients to hospitals. No one took the initiative to mention those days.
Later when I came back to Beijing, one of the young people told me that he did not dare to watch the documentary about the Wuhan epidemic. On February 24, 2021, the second day of the first anniversary of Wuhan's lockdown, the young man sent me a photo on WeChat, "Walking by the river beach today, I saw a lot of chrysanthemums on the shore, it should be dedicated to commemorate the first anniversary of the lockdown of Wuhan yesterday." "Now it's drifting from upstream to downstream."
武汉：疫后新生
这组图片拍摄于2020年的两次武汉之行，分别为2020年8月，距离“解封”已经过去四个月的时候，和2020年12月底的元旦新年假期。
这不是严格意义上的一组报道图片，由于一些原因，很遗憾我无法在武汉封城76天内前往武汉拍摄。作为一名图片编辑，从疫情刚开始爆发，我编辑了大量在武汉拍摄的图片，包括我所工作的媒体派往武汉的记者，武汉本地媒体的摄影记者，当地的通讯员。对于这个我此前没有去过的城市，我几乎认识了它所有的地标性建筑。
当我2020年8月第一次去往武汉时，我去了这些我在疫情相关新闻图片上的地点，华南海鲜市场，汉口火车站，武汉长江大桥，武昌方舱医院，江汉关大楼等。我在东湖景区见到61岁的潘兰珍，最早被方舱医院收治的新冠肺炎康复患者，在武汉协和医院见到强调“现在还不能说是后疫情时期，不能麻痹大意”的急诊科主任张劲农，在武汉郊区的一家市场见到曾在华南海鲜市场工作的员工，他讲起家乡无法解决的烂尾楼，并认为武汉早已是自己的第二故乡。
2020年底，这一个特殊年份即将结束时，我又利用元旦假期去了一次武汉。华南海鲜市场二层的眼镜城正常营业，仍然没多少顾客，在一个摊位上，我看到一个商户的小笔记本上抄写了两行诗，“关山难越，谁悲失路之人？萍水相逢，尽是他乡之客”，笔记本的最下方，印着华南海鲜市场的小字。市场周围，仍然有警察在值守，但车流量明显已经比8月时多了很多，甚至，有市民在这条路上因为交通擦碰开始当街吵架。
在武汉的白沙洲，我偶遇了三个相约出来玩的年轻人。疫情初期，一位在发热门诊，一位在隔离点，另一位负责送患者就诊。没人主动提起那段日子。后来，其中一位年轻人告诉我，关于武汉疫情的纪录片他没敢去看。2021年2月24日，武汉封城一周年的第二天，这个年轻人在微信上给我发来一张照片，“今天到江滩边溜达，看到岸边有很多菊花，应该是上游昨天纪念武汉封城一周年献的。”“现在漂到下游了。”
Related reporting: This story was originally published on China Daily 22 August, 2020
China's strict prevention and control measures meant the spread of the novel coronavirus in the country was largely brought under control in early April, which was marked by the lifting of the lockdown on Wuhan, capital of Hubei province. Nearly four months have passed since the lifting, the city ushered in the hoped-for economic recovery, as prevention and control measures are becoming a new normal.
Work resumption rate in the city's catering industry, which was among the hardest hit by the outbreak, was 78 percent on Aug 1, up from 13.3 percent on May 1, according to the city's dining industry association. Liu Guoliang, president of the association, said that over 80 percent of businesses are back to work in the industry, which is better than expected.
Under the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, a steady stream of people can be seen along the riverbank from evening to late night, enjoying the coolness, singing or dancing. Many newlyweds leave their footprints in front of the landmark Hankow Customs House, taking photos to mark the occasion of the revived dynamism in the metropolis.
A long queue can be spotted at the entrance of the reganmian shops in the early morning. Among them are not only local regular customers but also many tourists from across the country. Reganmian, or more commonly hot dry noodles, is a traditional Chinese dish originating from Wuhan. It is one of the five most common and popular noodle dishes in China. The noodles in reganmian are cooked in a mixture of water and sesame oil, cooled, tossed and warmed in the same mixture right before serving.
In the famous Jiqing Folk Street, the combination of food stalls and folk artists' performances is full of breath of life. The real appeal, unmistakably, is in that note of vehemence in the local life. It is how the life of the city looks to the people who live it.
Starting from Aug 8, tourist sites in Hubei province rebounded in business after scrapping entrance fees for domestic visitors, a token of gratitude for nationwide assistance during the COVID-19 outbreak.
The 364 A-level scenic spots in Hubei received 1 million tourists between Aug 8, the start of the free-ticket policy, and Aug 10, said the province's culture and tourism department.
A-level tourist attractions in Hubei province will keep open to tourists from low-risk areas across the country for ticket-free reservations until the end of 2020. The stimulus plan will accelerate the recovery of the local tourism market.
In the Yellow Crane Tower scenic area, a large number of tourists line up to visit through the reserved passage. This landmark building resumed its opening on June 1. The current daily reception volume has scaled up to 50 percent of its maximum reception capacity, which is 25,000 people. It saw tourist arrivals increase more than tenfold week on week. As of Aug 16, the major scenic spots in Hubei had received 3.262 million tourists.
"We in Wuhan are the safest now." This is the most heard words in Wuhan. From May to June, the city conducted nucleic acid tests on more than 9 million residents. It is a city with a deep "corona memory". Although the South China Seafood Market is still closed, the glasses wholesale market upstairs has reopened. A merchant introduced that the reopened store can enjoy a four-month rent reduction, and some of the original South China Seafood Market merchants have resumed work in some other farmer's market in Wuhan.
The Hongshan Gymnasium, which was once served as a makeshift hospital, has gradually resumed its original function, and began to recruit students for summer swimming classes.
The outpatient hall of Wuhan Union Hospital has also regained its pre-epidemic bustle. Zhang Jinnong, director of the hospital's emergency department, who is both a doctor and a survivor of coronavirus, said that most of the hundreds of COVID-19 patients he has contacted have recovered well.