Spring Festival seems unaffected in this Shanghai village despite quarantine
Volunteers in hazmat suits deliver festive supplies to quarantined villagers in suburban Fengxian District on Tuesday.
Wei Zhibin felt no offense, instead he was overjoyed when six people in white hazmat suits appeared outside his home in the early morning of the first day of the Year of the Tiger on Tuesday.
Guests usually dress in red or other bright festive colors during Spring Festival visits according to Chinese folk customs.
However, to Wei and other villagers of Xingfu Village in suburban Fengxian District, Shanghai's only medium-risk area amid the current COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, these visitors in white suits brought essential supplies to ensure a happy and smooth Lunar New Year, the most important traditional festival of Chinese people.
On the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year, the quarantine staff delivered festive greetings as well as red lanterns, Spring Festival couplets, tiger dolls and abundant ingredients for festive meals to every household in the village which is under strict quarantine.
"They've ensured that this year's Spring Festival is no different from those of previous years," gushed Wei, 50.
A staffer handling import business in the cargo area of Pudong International Airport was confirmed as a new COVID-19 case in Shanghai on January 23. His wife also tested positive later.
Their accommodation in the Group 8 area of Xingfu Village, Fengcheng Town of Fengxian was then designated as a medium-risk area.
The area is under quarantine for two weeks through Sunday. All people in the area are subject to multiple rounds of nucleic acid testing until the end of the quarantine. They are confined to their homes during the period, including the Spring Festival holiday.
Volunteers prepare fresh vegetable for the quarantined villagers for the Spring Festival.
A minivan loaded with Spring Festival supplies first drove into the village on Monday, or New Year's eve. Volunteers in hazmat suits delivered food ingredients for the Chinese New Year Eve dinner, which means family reunion to Chinese, to each household.
The food supply cooperative of the village prepared two sets of meals for the quarantined villagers, Wang Hua, an official with the rural cooperative, revealed.
Meal A included chicken, fish and pork for main local rural dishes, while Meal B for the elderly replaced the seafood and meat with river fish and light ingredients, Wang said.
All the vegetables were freshly harvested from a nearby farmland and delivered to the villagers directly.
After receiving the ingredients from the volunteers, Wei began preparing the family reunion meal at 4pm on Monday. He cooked spiced beef, chicken soup, steamed fish and shrimp, candied lotus root as well as steamed eight-treasure glutinous rice and salted meat, a favorite dish in Fengxian.
"Though we cannot invite additional family relatives during the quarantine, we have nothing to worry during the Spring Festival," Wei insisted.
The community health service center and Fengpu Subdistrict have dispatched more than 70 medics and volunteers to serve the quarantined villagers.
Volunteers in hazmat suits deliver festive supplies to quarantined villagers in Fengxian District on Tuesday.
The young volunteers changed their WeChat icons into Doraemon – a cute, round, earless robotic cat in the namesake Japanese manga series – and solved all kinds of difficulties for the villagers. In the Japanese manga, Doraemon can realize his masters' varied demands with high-tech gadgets.
People from neighboring villages are also delivering food and festive greetings to their neighbors in quarantine. Representatives from Nansong Village made traditional pan cakes and rice cakes, both local specialties in Fengxian, for the quarantined villagers.
They've also made festive food and gifts for quarantine staff, who cannot spend the traditional festival with their families.
To enrich the cultural life of the quarantined villagers, the subdistrict has also organized an online Spring Festival gala. Square dancers, martial art lovers and other villagers are encouraged to show their talent and perform for their quarantined neighbors through livestreaming.
Shao Lili, a retired dancer in the quarantined village, plans to organize a fan dance with her former colleagues. The community activity center has delivered costumes and fans to the performers.
"Such online gala has enriched the village with festive ambiance, and made us villagers more acquainted with each other," Shao pointed out.
The family reunion dinner of quarantined villagers in Xingfu Villageof Fengxian District.
The family reunion dinner of quarantined villagers in Xingfu Village of Fengxian District.
