When Beijinger Rex Yang arrived in the Seychelles in late January, he did not expect a planned two-week family holiday would stretch to three months with no end in sight. The Yang family is still stranded on the island of La Digue, the third-largest in the Seychelles archipelago in the Indian Ocean off East Africa. The family’s stay was originally extended because Yang’s mother was unwell, and then further prolonged because the Seychelles’ international airport was shut down as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Before the virus crisis took hold, the 33-year-old, his mother, sister and nephew enjoyed La Digue’s balmy weather, lush forest and pristine beaches. “We woke at 7.30am. We cooked and ate breakfast,” Yang says. “Afterwards, the whole family would spend two hours at the beach, feeding Aldabra giant tortoises and enjoying the waves. After a siesta, we would hit the beach again and enjoy the beautiful sunset over the Indian Ocean.” Then, on March 14, the first Covid-19 case was reported in the Seychelles. To stem the outbreak, the government quickly put social distancing measures in place, closed schools and shops selling non-essential goods, and banned foreigners from entering and leaving the country. Beaches have been closed since the beginning of April, which has been frustrating for the Yangs, but they have made the most of their confinement in a 200 square metre (2,150 square foot), two-storey holiday home with a lawn and sand patch. “We go to the supermarket once a week to do grocery shopping,” Yang says. “We play tennis and volleyball in our courtyard. My mum watches lots of Chinese soap operas. I knuckle down learning French, one of the official languages in the Seychelles. My French is good enough for daily conversation now.” The locals here did not show any discrimination against Chinese. My landlord gave me free vegetables, fruit, eggs, chicken meat, and so on. There’s no panic buying at all at the supermarkets Rex Yang Fed up with his long working hours in an IT job in Beijing, Yang quit in 2018 to go globetrotting. He visited India, Africa, South America and North America, where he took odd jobs and lived on a shoestring. “I covered most of the countries in the Americas,” he says. “I brought my family along for the Seychelles trip because I wanted to spend time with them during the Spring Festival. I will put my globetrotting plans on hold now. I plan to go back to Beijing and stay there for 2020.” The timing of the family’s departure for China is a cause for concern. Yang’s mother’s diabetes drugs have now run out and the cost of the long stay on the island has exceeded their budget. “The landlord is very kind,” Yang says. “The monthly rental for our house should be 90,000 yuan (US$12,000), but he charges us only 15,000 yuan (US$2,100). Split between my sister and me, our living costs, including the monthly rental, are 20,000 yuan on the island.” Yang has reason to stay positive because the pandemic, which has engulfed much of the world, has yet to hit Africa quite as hard. Leading health experts warned that Africa, a poor region with weak health systems and sprawling metropolitan slums, would be susceptible to widespread outbreaks and a potentially high death toll. The first Covid-19 case was reported in Africa on February 14 when a Chinese national was diagnosed in Egypt, but with a population of 1.2 billion, the continent has so far recorded fewer than 2,000 deaths from more than 30,000 confirmed infections. “The daily changes in immigration news have our emotions on a roller-coaster ride,” Yang says. “A few days ago, we expected the airport to reopen. But later, the flight was cancelled again. “Our expectations often turn into frustration. But because we have had such mood swings many times and the situation is beyond our control, we have decided to stay calm and try our best to be healthy physically and mentally.” ‘Tourists were overflowing. This is about right.’ To maintain an optimistic outlook and fend off the blues of being marooned, Yang keeps a daily diary. He records his experiences and thoughts and posts them on social media to allay the concern of friends and family back home. On April 25, he began to share his experiences on Weibo, China’s answer to Twitter, and on the popular short video app Douyin. To his surprise, he had an overwhelming response. Chinese internet users were impressed by his boundless optimism and bubbly determination. His Weibo posts have been viewed more than 100 million times. By posting spectacular pictures of the pristine island of La Digue, with its turquoise waters and vibrant wildlife, Yang has inadvertently become an unofficial tourism ambassador for the Seychelles. Attracting mostly European tourists, the nation is largely off the radar of Chinese travellers. “This is the second time I have visited Seychelles,” he says, adding that the nation has what is recognised as one of the world’s 10 best beaches, Anse Lazio, on Praslin island. “The Aldabra giant tortoises can live to be 200 years old. They weigh over 250kg and are very lovely. The locally distilled rum Takamaka is cheap and delicious. Being a diver, I also love the waters here, which are crystal-clear with many corals and fish, like the eagle ray,” he says. The sudden interest from mainland China in the remote country has so intrigued locals that Seychelles’ national broadcaster SBC and two local newspapers have interviewed Yang. He says the local journalists were shocked by the volume of traffic his posts have generated in China. “The Seychelles’ population is fewer than 100,000 people,” Yang says. “There are only 2,000 locals on La Digue. During the pandemic, Seychelles’ tourism has been dealt a severe blow. Seychelles people hope to attract more Chinese people to their country after the virus outbreak.” The kindness, generosity and stoicism of residents in the face of the pandemic has impressed Yang. Before the country went into lockdown, locals went with them on fishing trips and forest walks. One person who met Yang in La Digue but lives in Mahe, another island, helped him buy a mobile phone and couriered it to him after he dropped his own device into the sea and could not find a new one on La Digue. “The locals here did not show any discrimination against Chinese,” Yang says. “My landlord gave me free vegetables, fruit, eggs, chicken meat, and so on. There’s no panic buying at all at the supermarkets.” Yang is also grateful to officials at the Chinese embassy in Seychelles, who have gone out of their way to help the stranded family. “The embassy gave us masks,” he says. “They call us two or three times a week to see how we are and give us information about flights, local pandemic measures and rules. They even send us Chinese food and condiments to satisfy our yearning for home food. We pick the stuff up at the pier at La Digue.” While looking forward to going home, Yang says the experience of being trapped on a remote island is a blessing in disguise. “My one-year stay in South America last year was much harsher, because some of the countries there do not have stable law and order. I was a couch surfer and backpacker, paying for my travels along the way by working for the locals. Staying in the Seychelles is much more comfortable because I am here with my family.” Yang adds that at times in La Digue his family had an entire beach to themselves, a rare luxury, and he has appreciated the months living with his mother, sister and young nephew. “I am grateful for the opportunity to spend such a long time with my family,” he says. “I felt guilty before that I did not have much time to be with them because I was busy with work or travelling around the world. Being together for such a long time has improved our trust and understanding of each other.”