Known for its sandy beaches, luxury resorts and duty-free
shopping, the city of Sanya on China's tropical Hainan island has long been a
popular getaway for Chinese middle- and upper-class families.
Since the weekend, however, what began as a leisurely escape
has become a stress-filled travel nightmare for tens of thousands of
holidaymakers, who are trapped in a sudden lockdown imposed by authorities to
curb a spiraling Covid outbreak.
Driven by a highly infectious Omicron subvariant -- which
authorities blame on contact with overseas seafood dealers at a fishing port --
the outbreak has infected more than 1,200 people in Sanya since August 1. It
has also spread to a dozen other cities and counties in Hainan, infecting more
than 200 others.
That is a major outbreak by the standards of China's
zero-Covid policy, which aims to swiftly snuff out local flareups with snap
lockdowns, mass testing, extensive contact tracing and quarantine.
On Saturday, the Sanya government hastily locked down the
city of a million people, including some 80,000 tourists. Visitors wishing to
leave must show five negative Covid tests taken over seven days, and
authorities did not specify when the measures would be lifted.
Public transportation was suspended, people's movements
inside the city were restricted to emergency services, and transport links were
halted.
More than 80% of flights leaving Sanya were canceled on
Saturday, according to data from flight tracking company Variflight. All trains
departing from the city were also canceled, state broadcaster CCTV said
Saturday.
The mass, sudden flight cancellations led to scenes of chaos
at the airport on Saturday, when some passengers who had already boarded were ordered
to deplane, according to state media reports.
A video widely circulated on Chinese social media shows a
local official trying in vain to placate dozens of frustrated travelers outside
the airport police station.
Speaking into a megaphone, the official promised the
government would provide free food and hotel accommodation to travelers
stranded at the airport, as a ring of police officers stood around him and
pushed back the crowd.
"I want to go home! Go home! Go home!" the crowd
chanted in response.
Forced stays
China's borders have been closed to international tourists
since the start of the pandemic, meaning tourist hotspots like Sanya rely even
more on domestic travelers.
The Sanya government said Saturday that tourists with
canceled flights could book discounted hotel rooms. But for some families, the
forced week-long stay may still come at a heavy price -- especially as the
Chinese economy has been battered by zero-Covid.
On Sunday, state-run news website The Paper reported that a
family of 13 from the southwestern city of Chengdu would need to spend about
$26,600 for an extra week at their five-star hotel, including charges of more
than $100 per person for lunch and dinner buffets.
The report caused a stir on Chinese social media, with a
related hashtag attracting 270 million views on China's microblogging site
Weibo as of Monday afternoon. Many comments expressed sympathy toward the
family, while others questioned why they didn't move into a cheaper hotel.
After the outcry, the family said they were able to access cheaper food options
at the hotel.
Other social media posts by trapped tourists in Sanya
accused some hotels of raising their prices to cash in on the forced stays. At
a news conference Sunday, the Sanya government vowed to look into the
complaints.
It said more than 3,200 tourists stuck at the airport on
Saturday would be given seven days of accommodation and food. And about 5,000
workers had been sent to Hainan from other parts of the country to help with a
mass Covid testing drive, officials added.
When will it end?
For many stranded tourists, the biggest concern is whether
they will be allowed to leave after seven days. They fear the lockdown could be
extended if the number of infections rises despite the restrictions.
Schools in China are due to reopen after the summer break in
three weeks, and some companies may not allow employees to work remotely for
weeks on end.
On Monday, Sanya airport canceled all of its 418 flights,
according to flight-tracking site Variflight.
Among the tourists stuck were Shanghai residents who had
gone to Hainan for summer holidays after enduring a grueling two-month lockdown
in the Chinese financial hub earlier this year.
A foreign resident of Shanghai who arrived in Sanya on July
26 said he had to leave his hotel last Thursday because it was requisitioned by
the local government as a quarantine facility. The hotel only gave him a day's
notice and left him to figure out alternative accommodation, he said.
Over the past five days, he has waited in long lines for six
Covid tests, he said.
"This situation going forward is unsustainable,"
said the tourist, who requested not to be named over fears of a nationalistic
blowback. "It's a little bit like Russian roulette on where you go, and
whether or not that area is gonna get locked down."
For many travelers mindful of the country's Covid
restrictions, Hainan had been considered a safe place because in the past it
has reported very few cases.
Other tourist hotspots have recently been struck by abrupt
lockdown too. Last month, more than 2,000 tourists were trapped in the resort
town of Beihai in southern China, after a lockdown was imposed over 500
infections.
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