China's national holidays are as much about family reunions as other traditional elements, and the high-speed rail network plays a huge role in bringing people together. 

This year has been a particularly troublesome one, because of the coronavirus, and this is the first time many people would have seen their loved ones in months. Among those people, one doctor who served on the front-line in Wuhan earlier this year had a particularly emotional reunion with his family.

At the beginning of this year, a war against an unknown virus has just been waged in the city of Wuhan. And this man has been fighting on the front line from the very start since early January, 2020. 

Dr. Lyu Qingquan from Medical Department of Hankou Hospital is the medical department head there. The office in the hospital has turned out to be his temporary shelter since the fight. 

Lyu had slept in this office for 69 days till March, when the virus just hit the whole country badly. 

But even before Lyu set eyes on his first COVID-19 patient in early January, the novel coronavirus was already making its rounds in the city. However, it was mistaken for the common flu due to the many similar early symptoms between influenza and COVID-19.

"We weren't aware of it back in December as the hospital simply didn't have such patients. Moreover, December is typically flu season. We also required all patients showing symptoms to be admitted and treated. All frontline medical personnel were required to wear masks," Lyu Qingquan said. 

"Now when I think about it, it was the very right decision.”

On January 20, 2020, over 200 infected cases were reported across China. The city of Wuhan started to roll out more designated hospitals.“We had 10 fever clinics, 50 doctors and nearly 100 nurses working around the clock. We once had up to 500 patients who needed an infusion. We wanted to treat more patients," Lyu said. 

The phenomenal increase in the number of patients quickly depleted Wuhan's medical resources.

"It was the darkest moment. I didn't expect so many patients, many in serious condition. With low oxygen saturation, they were in a very dangerous state. We wanted to help them as much as we could do, but we realized there was little we could do." 

On March 18, no new infections were reported in Wuhan for the first time. On April 8, after 76 days the lockdown on Wuhan was lifted. 

Dr. Lyu finally said goodbye to his office and came back home.