Post-Quarantine Week 4: Getting ready for the big lockdown

Sunday evening, the city-wide lockdown was announced. For Puxi, our lockdown would start this Friday. Monday morning, i went to the corner wet market to buy vegetables and eggs, and it was already closed.

Our street’s fruit sellers were busy, busy though.

They would put crates directly on the sidewalk and people would start grabbing things.

This time, I came back with some nice navel oranges and mandarin oranges. By 8:50am, they’d run out of eggs, though. Yes, the fruit seller usually has eggs! I prefer the egg seller in the wet market because she sells organic eggs. But the fruit seller was always my backup source when the egg seller in the wet market wasn’t there, or the wet market was closed. The fruit sellers are always open.

I also went across the street to the dumpling place to buy frozen dumplings - celery and pork, and Chinese chives and pork.

On Tuesday, I ventured out even earlier - about 7:50am. The wet market was still closed. Funnily, there was a guy across from the wet market - he’s kind of covered by the motorbike coming towards me - who was quietly selling about 6 carrots, as if he was trying to deal something illegal!

At this hour, the fruit seller still had eggs. Usually they sell them by weight, but today it was by quantity: 15 for 20 RMB (US$3), or 30 for 40 RMB. Really not the best price, for non-organic eggs.

When I came back, I could see the neighborhood committee people mobilizing. Probably more antigen tests in those shopping bags.

On this trip to the fruit seller, I picked up a big bunch of bananas. Green enough to last a few days.

I also got my 15 eggs; the seller had cut the tray in half. And one head of garlic.

I think I’m pretty well set up with the eggs here!

This morning, I also went back to the dumpling place to get more frozen dumplings. They were sold out of them! Probably many people had the same idea to stock up. But I could get fresh dumplings: cabbage and pork, and shepherd’s purse and pork. Fresh dumplings are so squishy! And the dough feels so expertly made (nothing at all like my attempts in the past).

I also brought back some breakfast. My jianbing seller wasn’t there anymore, but I did get savory tofu custard 咸豆花 and a sweet shaobing 甜烧饼. Protein and carb-y decadence. A great breakfast.

At lunchtime, I stepped out early to drop by Citysuper to “quickly pick some things up.” Well, once again, I think everyone else had the same idea. I did find vegetables, and vegetables that seemed like they would last a while, like eggplant and bell peppers. But the line: it was about 40 minutes long.

It was such a nice day today. I walked by Xiangyang Park again. And on the way back home, I passed by the fruit seller - they were sold out of eggs already by noon.

This was my total haul from Citysuper. It was super expensive: 454 RMB (US$72). Really kind of Whole Foods level or above, and these things aren’t organic even. It’s an expensive supermarket, being inside the tony IAPM mall, and usually is geared towards expats. But I don’t regret coming here. I feel well prepared.

I had a quick lunch of toast with cheddar and fried egg, and leftover salad from pizza night last Saturday. Good thing I had this loaf of bread, because I had a lot of quick meals this week.

With eggs, fruit, and vegetables, my last daily necessity was drinking water. I had ordered water through JD.com, scheduled to arrive on Thursday, but I had doubts about that. So on Wednesday before work, I went to the Lawson just outside the gate. Well, normally it would be right outside, but this gate was now locked. So I had to walk all the way around the block to get here. I had attempted to come by yesterday, but it was uncharacteristically closed. They did say that they would open today, so I tried to go first thing.

Success! I carried two 4.5L bottles in my backpack, and two in an IKEA bag.

I noticed signs went up around the neighborhood informing us of the regulations. We couldn’t even visit each other within the compound. We couldn’t even go into the hallway.

Unrelated to the pandemic, there are other propaganda around, for example warning people against cults, and the like.

Today, I had some turkey and barley soup, with the beautiful red-green vegetable.

It started to rain this evening, but I felt like I still wanted to get out one last time before lockdown. Besides, I was thinking I might want to get some toilet paper just in case. I had 3 rolls of toilet paper. I know based on my 2020 and 2022 quarantine experiences, I actually know very well my rate of toilet paper consumption! We’d be issued two rolls at the beginning and I always had to ask for one more (TMI, I know!). So basically my rate of using toilet paper so I had enough to last 2 weeks, but I wanted to be prepared in case it’s longer than 2 weeks. I would be pleasantly surprised if we all were free on April 5, but so many things can disrupt that. If someone in your community is positive you’re all locked down for 14 days.

As I was leaving, the guard said, don’t stay out too late. They would be closing the gates at 2am, when the lockdown started. Well of course!

It was very eerie seeing the streets empty, and police tape going up and down the whole street.

I first tried going to a Lianhua supermarket, but it was closed (I think not on account of the outbreak - the signs looked completely dismantled). So I went to the nearest supermarket, which was inside of the posh Kerry Centre. This might be even more expensive than Citysuper, and I guess because of its high prices, it was fully stocked with fruits and vegetables! What are they going to do with all of this after tonight, when the lockdown starts? They should be putting up sale prices!

I did get my toilet paper, as well as some celery (since it keeps a while), and heavy cream to make a milk bread recipe this weekend. It was US$3 for a tiny carton. I also got a package of green mugwort mochis 青团 for the upcoming Qingming Festival 清明节.

On my way back, I marveled at the flowers blossoming in the trees. It was sad to think that I wouldn’t get to see these before they all fell.

Walking back was really unsettling. This street, Fumin Road, is normally bustling with restaurants and bars along both sides. There are always traffic jams here on weekends.

This corner is usually also very busy, with very popular outdoor terraces full of expats especially.

The police tape - is this really necessary?

I came back home with my purchases, had dinner, and then at 9:20pm I heard these ladies on the loudspeaker going through our neighborhood telling us not to go to sleep yet. We’d have to take antigen tests tonight. Someone asked when? They didn’t know. This is a common refrain. Why? When? No one knows. Just do it, whenever we tell you. Click on the picture below to hear the loudspeaker voices on YouTube.