The pictures and narrative took place in the time period from say 10FEB20 to 18FEB20. This was during the height or the peak of the “Wuhan Coronavirus COVID-19” event. The Chinese government treated this event as a biological attack, and the entire nation and military went into DEFCON ONE. I, as an expat, had to make a “visa run”. It was scheduled months before, and the deadline was rapidly approaching, so I left my apartment and ventured outside to experience the world around me.
Visa Run
But first, we need to explain what a “visa run” is.
A visa run is a short trip over an international border designed to reset the visa in the originating country of the trip. Many countries which have visa-free travel or grant visas on arrival have a set amount of time that you can be in the country. -What is a visa run?
Most nations are not like the United States, where you enter and you are not monitored or have to check in with the police or anything like that. I live in China, and I have to make periodic checks to both the Chinese customs, and the police stations to keep them aware of what I am doing and what I am up to.
My time for a visa run was fast approaching, so I made a visa run to Macao via the HK-China-Macao bridge. It was easy for me to do. The bridge is right in front of my house. So I took the bus, and one stop later, I was at Customs and Immigration.
Life during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak
Well, the life is… boring.
Everyone stays inside of their house. They have food and groceries delivered, and watch a heck of a lot of movies. It’s terribly boring. Imagine being cooped up in your house.
And that goes double for the dog.
He doesn’t understand. He’s just sitting there crossing his legs and whimpering. He keeps looking at the door, and pleading with his eyes. But, nope. Sorry dog. You can bring in an unwelcome “visitor” very easily as you vacuum up every scent you can detect.
So, anyways…
I geared up and ventured forth outside of our place.
Gearing up
Well, the first thing is really simple. Aside my my clothes, I made sure that I wore an outside windbreaker that I could wash in the washing machine when I arrived home, and had a bottle of disinfectant to spray my clothes and shoes when I got back into the house.
Of course, I wore a mask and latex disposable gloves.
Some people wear a hat and then wash it with the clothes upon returning. But I figured that I would just wash my clothes upon arrival and take a full shower. Which I did.
Getting the Bus
Since I live so close to the HK-Macao-Zhuhai bridge, I just went to the bus stop and took a bus. It’s an easy ride, and almost all buses (with the exception of #99) goes to the main station near the Customs office.
That center is a massive mall / customs / transportation hub about the size of an airport. This was my first time visiting it, and while I had seen it from the outside for years, I had never ventured inside the complex.
There wasn’t too many people out and about. Firstly because I left at nine in the morning. But, of course, the big and real reason is simply because everyone is staying inside their homes, and not venturing out unless it is an absolute emergency.
Here’s another view from the bus station. I like to call this road “Billionaires road” because the houses are all expensive, and large. Most people don’t need a five bedroom apartment with four bathrooms, and three rooms for maid’s quarters.
Here’s another view of Macao. Mostly Zhuhai has excellent weather. This day trip was no exception, with temperatures in the low 70’s and sunny. There were a few people out. One or two jogging with face masks on…
The cleaning workers who attended to the trashcans, the sweeping of the sidewalks and the tending of the bushes. All of whom wore masks, gloves and protective attire. They were also busy disinfecting everything multiple times.
China does not have a Welfare Program like the United States has. If you want a hand-out you need to beg for it. The government will give you "Jack Shit". However, they will offer you work. Anyone who is willing to work can get a job, a small paycheck, a roof over their heads in a small barracks and three meals a day. The work that is provided is most the janitorial and gardening type, of which you can see in the early mornings.
At the Customs
Now I am not permitted to take pictures and photos inside the Customs complex, but let me tell you that it is enormous. It is, like many of the Chinese public works; new, clean, modern, and well maintained.
It is built and designed to be the transportation hub for the Zhuhai – HK – Macao nexus and it’s size belays that fact. It is part customs complex, part mall, and part airport / bus and ferry center. It’s enormous, and I was a little taken aback by the size and scope of it.
Now, do not get the wrong impression.
The regular customs office in Gongbei is also enormous. And it is full of people and much used. But I figured that I would take a spin at this new complex for two reasons…
- One, it’s next door to where I live.
- Two, the bus to Gongbei (#99) is not available due to the COVID-19 out-break.
So after getting lost and finding my way, I made it into the complex and it was empty!
You see, the buses from HK to Macao has stopped because of this Coronavirus event. That that represents the bulk of the passenger traffic to the customs complex.
So of the thirty entry stations, only one was open, and there were only four people in front of me. Amazing!
Things went well.
People were nice and polite as they always are. They don’t growl at you like the American customs officers in Chicago do. Nor will they pull you aside for “special screening”. They asked me what I intended to do in Macao and I told them that I was just making a visa run. They said “Oh, ok”, and let me go on my merry way.
The layout was very convenient.
The Macao customs officer was sitting right next to the Chinese customs officer. You took two steps and were processed immediately.
They didn’t have the customs robots that I was used to working with. But it really didn’t matter to me. That novelty wore off a year or so ago. I was just happy to talk to a real person. Though they did do a bio-metric scan of my face and left palm print. Which is pretty normal.
The only thing out of the ordinary were the four health check stations that I had to go through.
- Leave China.
- Enter Macao.
- Leave Macao.
- Enter China.
But these weren’t really a hassle. I just filled out a form and got my temperature measured at my forehead, my wrist and scanned by thermal body imaging.
Leaving the Complex and back into China.
Because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) almost all of the stores, the shops and the restaurants were all closed. It was just like being in a large airport early in the morning before anything opened up. It was quiet and spacious and lonely. The only things moving about were the cleaning ladies, the observation drones, and the mobile police robots.
The police robots were just these big white Segway robot thingys. They were going up and down the boulevards and hallways announcing the situation and imploring people to be extra clean, not to touch surfaces and if you feel ill to report that to an attendant immediately.
Arrival Home
All in all, the entire event took under an hour. This is perhaps a world record! Sometimes it would take me a full half a day to complete the customs system. You might get behind a tour bus and have to spend hours waiting in line. But today the event was smooth and easy.
I hopped on the bus and a few minutes later I was back home.
Of course, there are these big red banners telling everyone to be extra careful. To stay inside. To avoid other people and if sick tell the authorities. It warns about intentionally spreading the virus, and speaks of being a unified nation fighting the virus emergency together.
Eventually I was able to enter my complex. I passed the complex guards who opened up the gate for me, took my temperature and registered my time in their login clipboard and police APP on the phone.
Of course, my apartment complex consists of various buildings and each building requires an electronic FOB or pass-code to unlock the doors. On the doors are the government notices about the emergency and a quick QR code to immediately contact the police for help and assistance.
Registering with Police
But wait!
I’m not done.
You see, I still must tell the police that I exited China, and returned. I do this for every visa run. So I needed to take a hop over to the local police office and register into my database.
There’s only a few people on the bus.
When the bus arrived, a second employee came down and measured my forehead temperature. He made sure that I wore a mask. If I did not wear a mask, I would not be permitted onto the bus.
I also wore latex gloves. About half of the people wore gloves. Most were those very flimsy PE gloves that you use when you are eating messy foods like sloppy joes, or fried chicken. But I, have a supply of gloves, from some of my chemical businesses. So I am well equipped in that arena.
About three years ago, all the buses in Zhuhai were replaced with electric buses. They have been running without problem now for these last three years. They are really quiet and if you are not careful, they will sneak up on you and you might miss you bus.
I know, it’s happened to me more than once.
They normally play music, soft Chinese music either Chinese pop or Chinese traditional music, but the buses were quiet. No audio on any of the buses, and the few people on the buses were quiet. They all sat apart from each other and were afraid to touch anything.
The television on the buses normally shows videos related to public safety and local news. Here the videos were all about the safety of Chinese citizens and steps that you must take to survive this emergency, and to contribute and participate in the health and well-being of the country.
Arrival at the police station wasn’t a big deal. They were getting back from their lunch break and lunch nap. One officer came over and updated my records. I’m in the system, so he just updated the information and I was free to go. Maybe took me two minutes.
Then I went and walked a little bit. To stretch my legs and maybe grab a bite. I heard that both McDonalds and KFC remained open through this emergency, and I wanted to see if I could get myself a burger, fries and a coffee.
I could have taken a bike, they are everywhere. But I just felt like walking.
Maybe the reports were wrong.
I did see some food delivery bicyclists riding about and delivering food. This was (yellow) Kangaroo, and (blue) Er-Le-Ma.
I didn’t see much going on.
Some decontamination trucks were spraying the roads and saturating the trees. These trucks were white. Not the military camouflage that you would expect. The Chinese, I guess, only feel the need to paint military vehicles in olive green colors if they will be used in battle-zones. For urban and civilian environments they tend to be either white or black.
It’s a cultural thing I guess.
Back to the house a second time
Well, nothing is going on. So I just took another bus and went home. Everyone is inside and factories are just opening up. Most of my factories are at about 60% staffing, and it’s a slow slog. Things won’t be back to normal until March.
Meanwhile we are still taking orders.
Some of our Australian and New Zealand clients want us to source alternative suppliers out of China, and we have. They are about 40% more expensive, take about 25% longer to make and have an unverified quality history.
The rest of the clients (those in Europe and Africa) are still placing healthy orders with us. In fact the orders out of Europe are on the increase. Especially for Germany and England.
Anyways, I got off the bus and started the walk home from the bus station.
But the signs are there, and very few critters are moving about. I did see a feral tabby cat. She just looked at me with my mask on my face. I guess that I must have looked strange to her.
I said hello, and went on my merry way. She then got up and slaundered in the opposite direction.
Conclusion
This is just a narrative of my one trip outside my apartment during this biological weapons attack on China in January / February 2020. You don’t have to believe me that it is a biological weapons event. You can watch CNN and FOX and listen to what they say. But the Chinese government is treating it as a biological weapons event and that is all that matters.
SHTF is real, and preppers take note.
The reality, however, is not anything like you would expect. Its not a scene out of the “Walking Dead”, or some scene from “12 monkeys”. It’s something entirely different.
Anyways, this is what the REAL DEAL is like. It’s not the narrative that you might see in the American media. Whether it is FOX, CNN, or Alex Jones.
You all, be safe. Be happy and be healthy. Best Regards.
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