Remote working, a measure put in place by many companies in China responding to the spread of the coronavirus, is no longer a bonus perk but a necessity to minimize transmission risks.

As women in white-collar jobs tend to play multiple roles at home – including being the primary caretaker of children – what does working from home feel like?

'Rush hour' 

Countless e-meetings, almost 24/7 connection with "cloud" colleagues during working time, remote working makes Yang Lina count every minute. 

Yang is a client manager of a marketing analytics company based in Beijing, and is also a mother of a one-year-old. 

"Want to pick a background music for my every day home-working life? That would be my daughter's pule and co-workers' voices," Yang said with a wry smile. 

"But I feel very lucky that my husband always helps take care of the baby when I'm on shift," Yang said. 

"If one person in my family will become the chef during these days, that would be my husband," she teased.

Sense of ritual 

Echoing Yang's "rush hour" style, Xu Qu, department manager of a news company in Beijing, working from home has meant a complete integration of work into her home life. 

"A working day should begin with a sense of ritual," Xu explained, "I mean, there is no independent space at home and the computer is not convenient either." 

Also, she appreciates her family for looking after the baby when she is working. 

"All requests need to be responded immediately that I have to take mobile phone along with me even when I go to the washing room," Xu added. 

'Quick hand' 

For others, working from home has given those who usually pack food from outside a chance to sharpen their cooking skills. 

Wang Qin, audit manager at a vehicle company based in Shenzhen, working from home has changed her life from between office and home to study and kitchen, improving her cooking skills.

"I used to spend 90 minutes making myself a lunch with two dishes and one soup, but now I only need one hour," Wang told CGTN. "Sour pork ribs, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and chicken soup." 

"It takes me about one month to practice since working at home. At least I can cook with high level of self-satisfaction now," Wang jested about her cooking skills. 

She also mentioned another advantage to working remotely – saving money. "It can also save lots of money as there is no need to buy dresses and cosmetics." 

Gender differences in attitudes toward quarantine life 

In a recent poll run by Nandu Polling Center, over half of women said they spent their time cooking or doing household activities during quarantine, with the proportion among men 10 percent higher.  

The survey collected valid internet questionnaires from 572 respondents, 84.27 percent of whom live in Guangdong Province. In terms of age, the respondents were mainly of the 1980s and 1990s generations, who accounted for 38.11 percent and 36.71 percent, respectively. 

By a ratio of roughly 2.5 to 1 compared with men, women said that they do online shopping (31.91%) to kill time. 

According to the poll, women spent longer caring for their families (48.14%) and chatting on social media (41.49%) during quarantine while male respondents said they preferred to read the news (50.00%) and play video games (37.76%). 

In terms of people's feelings during the quarantine, most women (53.72%) and half of the male respondents (50.00%) expressed their worries about the epidemic situation.

Meanwhile, over 40 percent of the men indicated that they were bored at home and wanted to go outside, five percent higher than females. And the men's willingness to return to work or school is about 7 percent higher than women. 

The survey also found that women are more adept at mastering their time with nearly 30 percent of female respondents saying they felt productive during the "long vacation" and 47.58 percent saying that they still maintained a work-life balance. 

Men are more enthusiastic about discussing the epidemic situation compared to women, the poll shows. Some 45.84 percent of male respondents agreed that they pay close attention to how the epidemic is developing while 39.18 percent of female respondents agreed.  

(Cover photo and Infographics by CGTN's Li Yueyun, Gao Hongmei)