Citizens plan to stay put for Spring Festival

Writer: Wang Jingli  |  Editor: Holly Wang  |  From: Shenzhen Daily  |  Updated: 2022-01-21

Although Spring Festival is a favorite time for family gatherings, some citizens said they will not go back to their hometowns during this year's holiday for various reasons, Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported.

Wang Ke, a project safety director from CSCEC4 Civil Engineering Co. Ltd., came to Shenzhen last year and will be on duty during the Spring Festival holiday to ensure his project’s safety.

His project’s construction site will be enclosed during the holiday, but daily disinfection and patrol will continue. In addition, Wang needs to check on employees’ travel records after they return.

“Due to the pandemic, many of my colleagues have also decided to stay put for the holiday. In order to make sure everyone enjoys a happy and safe holiday, the company sent gift boxes to these employees and will organize celebrations,” Wang said, adding that “I will invite my relatives to Shenzhen later when the city clears all areas with medium and high infection risks.”

A citizen named Cao Linxi, who has lived in Shenzhen for 13 years, has also decided to stay put for the Spring Festival holiday.

“My parents spoke highly of the city’s anti-virus measures and its convenient public transport. The city offers more things to create a more festive mood. My kid also wants to spend the holiday with classmates so we finally decided to stay put,” Cao said.

Shen Bo, a citizen from Longgang District, said: “We will be unable to go back to our hometown for our wedding ceremony during this year’s Spring Festival, but we hope we could do it once the epidemic is over.”

Last year, Shen sacrificed his Spring Festival holiday for work. His company has known Shen’s wedding plan, so they didn’t arrange work for him for the holiday. However, the city’s latest COVID wave once again put a damper on Shen’s plans.

In fact, Shen’s wife, Wang Zhaoyue, a nurse from the Southern University of Science and Technology Hospital, has been helping collect COVID test samples for over two weeks. “We will stay in the city during the holiday to contribute to the fight against COVID,” Shen said.

Another citizen, Xie Ziying from Bao’an District, said that she heeded the call to stay put for the Spring Festival holiday to reduce the flow of people.

“My younger sister sent me smoked sausages from my hometown so that I can enjoy my hometown’s delicacies in Shenzhen this Spring Festival,” Xie said.