Beijing Bunker: "I Need a Proper Vacation After All This. It Has Been Stressful!"

As Beijing enters its fifth week in self-quarantine, the stories of how people have been dealing with the coronavirus outbreak – by staying, leaving, or watching on from afar – are many and varied. In Beijing Bunker, we quiz Beijingers on what approach they've been taking to stay safe and sane through the ordeal.

While the majority of us have long adapted to working away from the office, there are a few poor souls who have not had the privilege of enjoying this bittersweet staycation. As an editor, Wang Yuqing is one of them. Even during the outbreak, her job required her to commute to work and her workload snowballed exponentially as the epidemic escalated and the story grew. We talk to Wang about how she's been coping, and whether she will ever get that much-needed vacation...

Can you first tell us a little bit about yourself and your background?
I am a Beijinger, born and raised. I have been an editor at a news platform since last May. This is my second job and my first time working in the field.

Would you consider yourself safe, sane, safe and sane, or other? Why?
I would consider myself quite safe, but not as sane as I would like. I have a tendency to overthink things and have had episodes of anxiety regarding my health in the past. I was on medication for it for over a year until last November, and this was definitely an unexpected challenge.

Has the virus disrupted your travel plans or those of your loved ones? How has your life in general changed on account of the situation?
Yes, my family originally planned to visit Singapore during CNY (without me), but they canceled their trip. My plan for the holidays was to stay at my rental apartment by myself, but now I have been staying home with my family for over a month, which is not something I am used to. On top of that, my boyfriend went back home for the holiday and hasn’t come back. It’s been so long, I can feel the spark between us is fading away.

How have you been spending your time since the outbreak - are there any projects or hobbies you’ve been able to catch up on?
I have been going to work this whole time. Where I work, people don’t get to rest during the holidays, so I have been nervously going to the office four or five times a week.

Has the situation affected your work or business? If so, how?
We got busier. I have heard of some friends closing down their businesses during the outbreak, or companies not being able to pay employees' salaries for a month or two, but we have actually been taking on more work since the news is coming at a more urgent and frequent pace.

Have there been any unexpected upsides?
I would say that getting to spend all this time with my family is the biggest upside. Being stuck at home together for this long period of time has been a challenge, but also a blessing. Other than that, I have cooked more and have been eating more healthily, and I have been able to pick up bigger workloads as things get intense.

Which resources (online or real-life) have proved the most useful to you during this time?
News apps. I get all my info from there.

What's one thing that you've done that has saved you a lot of hassle/time/insanity?
Buying face masks early on. I stocked them up before the CNY, as soon as I heard the news about a possible outbreak. It then proved to be the right decision to buy a large amount at an early stage since they became hard to find and I need to go to the office frequently.

What do you most look forward to doing once all of this has blown over?
I miss putting on makeup for work, and I miss hanging out with friends even if I was never that socially active. But most of all, I need a proper vacation after all this. It has been stressful!

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Images courtesy of Wang Yuqing