At the beginning of 2020, Wuhan was China's hardest-hit city by COVID-19. People lived through a tough 76-day lockdown, with society coming to a complete stand still. But today life there is very different.
Ding Zhaoying, a senior student of Wuhan University, said, "I was among the last group of students who came back to the university. Students were asked to come back to school in batches, because of the prevention and control measures. I was very anxious when seeing others share pictures of the campus on social media apps. It was really nice to meet the teachers and classmates again when I was finally here. Walking on campus and studying in classrooms was normal and easy before the COVID-19 outbreak. Now I cherish all the small things in life. Wuhan is a really heroic city. As a student in Wuhan, I feel I have a responsibility to come back to the city and contribute something here."
Lu Jia is a worker on the assembly line for passenger vehicles for Dongfeng Motor Corporation. He said, "We were only able to produce dozens of cars a day when the factory resumed its operations on March 12. Today, we're producing 350 cars per day. It means production has fully recovered. I'm really excited. They're actually the best numbers in the time I've worked here, which is nearly six years. Our sales volume keeps rising too. The local government gives us many favorable policies. If people buy cars made in Wuhan, they can receive subsidies. That's why we're able to sell more cars. And then we produce more cars. Then I earn more."
Xu Yan is a Wuhan mother accompanying my daughter to prepare for next year's college entrance exam. She said, "I think Wuhan is a heroic city. All of Wuhan's residents are heroes. During the lockdown, people chose to stay home. Only those who had to work, like medical workers, policemen, community staff, volunteers and so on, went out to provide services. After the pandemic, I think people in Wuhan became grateful to all they have. We cherish today's return to normal life. Students are grateful to study in school. We cherish going back to work. I think I'm busier than before. We fell behind for a couple of months due to the pandemic. We hope to catch up. When we sing our national anthem, many will shed tears. Because we've gone through a really hard time. This is the first National Day during the pandemic. We want to express our gratitude to all the people who gave us assistance and support. We open our door and welcome them to Wuhan."