A ‘Spring Festival’ comes 9 months after

Celebrating National Day holidays with homecoming, reflecting on epidemic fight

For many Chinese, the justconcluded eight-day National Day holidays mean something more than just a vacation.

Coming off the COVID-19 epidemic, many Chinese people seized the holidays to reunite with family members, who they were supposed to spend time with during the Spring Festival but were disrupted by the epidemic.

Many chose to hit the road and indulge themselves after being confined to their homes for eight months.

Some took the time to do things they were longing to do but couldn’t. And there were those who worked for those in need.

While many parts of the world continue to struggle with the virus, the holidays were a reward

for Chinese people who sacrificed during the epidemic. It was their belated Spring Festival to spend time with their loved ones. The holidays also reassured them about China’s battle against the virus, as their action spoke louder than statistics and any announcement. And they defeated efforts that smear China’s fight against the virus.

Fulfilling a pilgrimage

Sichuan born and bred Tibetan Long Xu joined a crowd at one of the most popular tourist spots – Tibet – during the Golden Week.

But unlike most travelers, Long walked thousands of miles from Sichuan to Tibet for four months to accomplish the pilgrimage he has been longing for years. He started his trek in June from Sichuan, after he had volunteered in Wuhan, the erstwhile hardest-hit Chinese city.

Long was visiting his family in Wuhan when the city was locked down in late January. Realizing it was impossible to leave, he started volunteering the day the city was sealed off.

“After this experience in Wuhan, I thought there was nothing to fear, and that life is too short. So we must seize the day and leave no regrets behind,” Long said.

After four months, Long arrived in Lhasa, capital of Tibet region on Saturday. Seeing the crowds crammed along city streets, bathing under the plateau’s scorching sunshine, Long was in a daze.

“It was a rainy May day when I left Wuhan. To me, the future was as misty as the weather as I was walking on the empty street and wondering when the pandemic would be over and life would return to normal,” he said.

“I never thought that in less than half a year, I would see so many people, traveling, laughing, and taking pictures in front of the Potala Palace. I guess this is what karma means: We paid the price, now we’ve been rewarded,” Long told the Global Times.

Wuhan, which was hit the hardest during COVID-19 in China, is recovering with surprising speed. Data shows more than 18.82 million tourists visited the city during the Golden Week, which made the Yellow Crane Tower the most popular attraction in the country.

Looking ahead

Unlike many who spent the holiday touring and enjoying family time, Chen Jingyu watched over hospital beds. As a well-known lung expert at the Wuxi People’s Hospital, Chen said he performed six lung transplants during the eight-day holiday. “There’s no vacation for doctors.”

“I was touched by the medical employees’ efforts and contributions in fighting the virus when I was in Wuhan. But the virus made me realize that there’s still a vast void for us doctors and scientists to fill, especially in intensive care and respiratory science,” Chen said.

Long said after the Tibet tour, he will return to Sichuan to support his family.

“I feel I lived my life to the fullest this year, I contributed my fair share to help Wuhan, and accomplished my wish of making a pilgrimage to Tibet on foot. It’s time to return to normal life.”

Although the pandemic has upended life, he said he is not worried about his future. “We are not living in the best of times, but living in the best country, with wonderful people. Those are what we need to fight for.”