In China, Delta means staying closer to home for the holidays

The coronavirus variant upended travel plans over the summer and people are keen to leave the house

An outbreak in Fujian has put that off the list of destinations and made many wary of going too far afield

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Universal Studios’ new resort will open in Beijing on Monday. Photo: AP

Published: 8:00am, 18 Sep 2021Updated: 12:23pm, 18 Sep 2021

The Mid-Autumn Festival will be the first chance for Chinese to take a break since the Delta variant of the coronavirus forced lockdowns and transport curbs across the country and scuppered summer travel plans.

As the summer clusters have waned, enthusiasm for travel has grown and millions are expected to take the opportunity to get out of the house for the three-day holiday which starts on Sunday.

But with more cases daily in the latest outbreak in the southeastern province of Fujian, just a three-hour flight from Beijing, many are wary of venturing too far afield.

Fang Yucai, 26, who works at a trade firm in the eastern province of Jiangsu, said he had got used to the sporadic outbreak and was keen to do something.

“Life is too stressful. I’m longing to relax. If you are too worried about the pandemic, you’ll go nowhere and get bored to death on holidays.”

To avoid the risk of flight cancellations and quarantine orders in a sudden outbreak, Fang abandoned plans to fly to the southern island of Hainan.

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