Wish we weren’t here: why Beijingers are braving a holiday getaway over the Lunar New Year

With just weeks to go until the Winter Olympics, many residents of the capital are heading for the city’s exits

But getting out means Covid-19 tests, paperwork and the uncertainty of lockdowns

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Published: 12:00pm, 19 Jan 2022Updated: 3:28pm, 19 Jan 2022

Company executive Yang Jie, 36, is leaving Beijing for Sanya on the southern Chinese resort island of Hainan on Friday.

Yang is undeterred by the rigorous Covid-19 checks required by various parties for the Lunar New Year travel season, which gets under way on Monday.

Her trip will be one of the more than 1.18 billion – or 36 per cent more than last year – that the Transport Ministry forecasts will be made around the nation during the 40-day Spring Festival travel period as people “get used to” pandemic control measures.

In Beijing alone, China Railway Beijing Group has forecast they would handle nearly 9 million railway trips to and from the capital during the period, more than double the total for the holiday last year.

While some people have decided to stay put to avoid the uncertainties and complications of pandemic travel, many others have decided to take the risky step to embrace holiday time away from the capital. This is in spite of stringent prevention measures related to China’s hosting of the Winter Olympics and outbreaks around the country.

There are nearly 80 “medium-to-high risk zones” across China under lockdown to suppress clusters of the Omicron and Delta variants of the coronavirus. Among the list are areas in Xian in the western province of Shaanxi; the northern municipality of Tianjin; Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Zhongshan in the southern province of Guangdong; as well as several cities in the central province of Henan.