It seems like right now, wherever in the world you happen to be, you are living in some kind of quarantine. Felt like now would be an opportune moment to kick off a discussion thread—always felt like newsletter writing is too much of a monologue from me. I know some of you do write back but it would be nice to hear from more of you. Substack recently opened this function so giving it a shot: some virtual solidarity in these truly unprecedented times.
I’ll kick it off with a few questions but feel free to chime in as you wish
What does quarantine look like where you are? How are you spending your time—reading, writing, cooking, what else? Share some recomendations📺👨🏻🏫📚!
Whats the general perception of China in your country at the moment? I sense there is a rising tide of anger in India most visible on Twitter—are you feeling the same? Id like to hear more.
Whats making you laugh in these uncertain times? Humor is important and Coronavirus is inspiring some excellent memes, Tiktoks, songs, etc. Share you favourite ones here.
What should this newsletter do more? What kind of topics would you like me to cover? different kinds of media? should I start some kind of group for more intimate sharing (wechat? slack? others).
So I'm currently based in Beijing as probably one of the only students (including both foreign internationals and domestic Chinese students) who are still living in a Chinese university campus. Peking University along with the rest of China's universities made the decision back in early February to close campuses to outsiders and that is still being enforced up to today. So technically you could say I have been in quarantine for over 2 months now given the daily temperature reporting that we have to do on campus, but at least we are well-looked after with mask distribution and even small food supplies being provided by the university. Its also lucky we have the beautiful PKU campus to walk around during the day and haven't been confined to our dormitory - this at least helps to keep us sane! Although being cut-off from food delivery services has been difficult, and relying on canteens everyday for meals has been challenging, but I guess this does provide some security over the quality and safety of the food we are eating.
Coming from New Zealand, the general perception towards China hasn't been the most positive during these times, although I feel any negative Chinese sentiment has died off as the country has taken the virus prevention more seriously. We closed the boarder to Chinese nationals following the rest of the western world quite early on, and this mostly impacted Chinese international students trying to get back into the country for the start of the new academic year. Now the country is in complete lock down for the next 4 weeks with boarders closed to all internationals, and it seems everyone is just now concerned for their own healthy and safety. I haven't seen a lot of China blaming which is nice given this is now a world problem ,and shouldn't be targeted directly at China, however, after things settle down im not sure that will be the case.
Aside from seeing the rather lack of common sense shown by the west with flooding supermarkets, fighting over toilet paper supplies and freighting the public with over dramatic media reporting, which have all stood out to me having experienced China's relatively cool and calm control procedures enforced and followed, one thing which has kept me smiling has been catching up with a lot of old friends via online platforms. It's always difficult trying to catch up with people given different time zones and busy schedules, but now everyone has mostly been stuck inside its provided a great opportunity to reach out to old mates you haven't talked to in a long time. Really recommend sending a few messages to old school friends or previous colleagues you haven't heard from in a while to see what they have been up to!
Would love to see a wechat, slack or google group set up for some more discussion and sharing of interesting links! I also really appreciate any translations you provide of interesting China stories that aren't as accessible in other languages!
Heard stories of Chinese stories flying to a 3rd country, self-isolating for 14 days and then flying to NZ/AU, followed by another 14 days quarantine, just to make it back to school. Pretty incredible.
Thanks for kicking things off. Yeah I dont think there's been as much coverage on students quarantined in Chinese universities--in CN or EN media. Full respect I think you and the other students have been...well still are... in longer quarantine than anybody else facing this ordeal so far-even more than Wuhan.
I like the idea about connecting with friends, the one thing that slips of our agenda in normal times. I've been able to connect with some undergrad friends after a long hiatus.
Thanks for keeping us up to date on what's happening inside China. Sitting at home on the 8th day of the national lockdown, one wonders how did China manage this crisis without such a total lockdown.
As for the lockdown itself, I was fortunate to get used to WFH mode from the beginning of this year only, given that I had to write my dissertation. But I have to admit, with everyone at home, WFH is quite difficult and intense. So, I have been mostly spending my daytime with the family and night writing the dissertation.
On the perceptions of China, there have been lots of WhatsApp forwards on how China deliberately unleashed this virus. One can also see a change in Indian news channels' reporting on the subject, calling it Chinese virus and all. So much so that even a much sober and saner channel like NDTV too starts its news bulletin showing virus originating in Wuhan and then spreading all over the world, while still saying coronavirus. Quite interesting times here to watch how Indian media which for most of the time is obsessed with Pakistan, is now focusing on China's so-called rogue behaviour. One hashtag is also apparently viral - #ChinaLiedPeopleDied. Speaking of which, much speculation here also about the extent of deaths in Wuhan, with quite a few news stories reporting how crematoriums are handing out ashes to thousands of families.
As expected, meme folks are working overtime, possibly in an effort to kill time, sitting at home. Most of the memes focus on the travails of lockdown, but some are also focusing on China's role. One interesting tweet/meme which apparently went viral was when the BJP MP Subramanian Swamy tweeted about how the strain of virus spreading in India is less powerful than what affected the rest of the world and the United States. To which, one twitter user replied as to here also China has given a low-quality item to India - a take on the low-quality of the Chinese goods sold in India.
Interestingly, some social media users from Kashmir have drawn comparisons to their own experiences of curfew and lockdown, particularly one that was imposed last year in August when the region's special status was withdrawn. Many have commented saying that they hope Indians are now more sensitive to the Kashmiris now that they too have been locked down at home, even if for completely different reasons.
Well, keep up your good work and lets surely catch up next time when you are here.
The hashtag you mentioned #ChinaLiedPeopleDied caught my attention too. I've noticed a growing number of influential journalists, academics, and ex-diplomats use it on Twitter, and even in written commentaries, referring to Coronavirus as 'Chinese virus' very liberally. Even saw an ex-amb openly endorse calls for China to be tried internationally for genocide(!). This is what first got me to notice the trend--something we must touch base on at a later point.
As for Kashmir its fantastic that they are a voice again social media again. Wonder if this irony will dawn on people in the rest of the country, but that may be wishful thinking. More memes on this very much in order!
Good luck with WFH - high pressure night writing is know to bring out the best flow. Have to admit I miss reading your pieces. Take care!
Majority Indians have always hated the Chinese for selling cheap quality products in India. This virus is only increasing that hate.
There are lot of rumours on WhatsApp, which people blindly believe, that the Chinese have purposely spread this virus so as to destroy the economy of the developed and the developing nations.
But one thing the Chinese should definitely do is ban the consumption of wild animals even for medical research.
Businesses, especially small and medium size ones, are suffering a lot here. Worst hit are obviously the farmers. It's almost the begining of mango season, the changing climate conditions have already delayed the mangoes and now the virus has destroyed the whole demand for these mangoes. The season lasts only till mid June and for a lot of mango farmers these 3 months are their main source of income for the entire year.
The Government on the other hand is doing great to curtail the spreading of the virus. Also doing great on providing help to the underprivileged.
But the PM recently requested all the companies to pay the salaries of all the employees as well as not lay off anyone during this period. Which is fair enough but the Government hasn't declared any package that can help the companies pay the salaries assuming there's going to be almost zero business for 1.5 to 2 months. That's where MSMEs will really suffer.
Innteresting things happening in the startup world here - founders are panicking, many will probably shut down as VCs make the decision of not making any new investments (like Sequoia did with their letter to portfolio companies). Work seems to be carrying on with work from home increasingly becoming harder. We're also seeing a pick up in the number of listeners listening to the podcast, which is good!
General perceptions of China negative here in India with certain media houses running campaigns to label it "China virus". Additionally, terrible disgusting stereotypes like "Chinese eat dogs, fish, everything" are being reinforced which is extremely saddening :(
I'm very interested in how tech communities mobilise in times like this, whether in terms of building tools to help pandemic combat or tweak their products to the demands and restrictions of quarantine. There are some interesting examples in China like contact-less delivery or Didi setting up stations across the country to disinfect cars and install barriers between driver and passenger.
Hi Anj and I are in Alabama where they just instituted an official state order yesterday and it looks like the next big frontier in America to get hit hard is the American South. I think people do find China at fault in a way but now the virus is so global people associate it with New York in the US I think. When not thinking about this we are crossing movies off our bucket list and enjoying! See Sweet Home Alabama for some delicious Bush-era fetishization of rural America
Takshashila Institute is running a survey on perceptions of China, which I believe would be helpful to distribute to your readers. Please let me know if I can make an introduction.
Here in Germany, we are still allowed to go outside for a walk or sports as long as we keep 1.5m distance. If you go out in groups, you have to be able to prove to the police that you actually live together. While I think that's a sensible rule on paper, here in Berlin the parks are getting crowded to the point that it's impossible to keep the mandated distance at choke points.
The police are driving around, announcing via loudspeaker that you aren't allowed to sit, but once they are around the corner, people sit down again. As the weather is fantastic, we are outside with the kids a lot as well. Being at the "frische Luft" (fresh air) is such a big part of German culture I think it has to get a lot worse before they consider restricting it. That's how it looked today at Tempelhofer Feld (the park that used to be the old inner-city airport)
There is no noticeable animosity towards China in the German media and on German Twitter. I saw one conservative blogger retweeting US anti-Chinese tweets (mostly of the "China lied, people died" variety) but he was getting pushback even from his audience.
In general, the public discussion about the whole situation is very rational. Commentators are proud that Merkel is the only European head of government who didn't use war rhetoric in her televised address. Instead, she suggested that grandkids could record a podcast for their grandparents. Sweet.
Scientists, not politicians are dominating the airwaves. Christian Drosten, the head of virology at the Berlin university hospital Charité, is the super-star of the crisis and is being interviewed non-stop. A daily (!) podcast with him, where he talks about virology and current research on Covid-19, is trending.
A lot of shops are still open, the local bakery and the wineshop (the one where we had a drink, Dev) are doing deliveries in the neighborhood now and Yoga-studios and fitness clubs are doing their lessons via videoconference. Even for the toilet paper supply crisis, there's already an app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.postillon.toilettenpapier
Digital toilet paper! The free version has is three-ply. Via in-app purchase, you can upgrade to four-ply toilet paper ;-)
Its great to see places adapt with delivery & live streaming...I hope you've upgraded to four ply. Drones, loudspeakers, and (rather grimly in 🇮🇳) batons the tools being used to coerce people to stay in.
Today the "Robert Koch Institut" (our cdc) said the low CFR ist due to two factors: Lots of testing (in mild cases as well) & mostly young people getting infected up to now (tourists going skiing in Italy/Austria).
Hey Dev,
Great idea on the thread! Let me kick things off!
So I'm currently based in Beijing as probably one of the only students (including both foreign internationals and domestic Chinese students) who are still living in a Chinese university campus. Peking University along with the rest of China's universities made the decision back in early February to close campuses to outsiders and that is still being enforced up to today. So technically you could say I have been in quarantine for over 2 months now given the daily temperature reporting that we have to do on campus, but at least we are well-looked after with mask distribution and even small food supplies being provided by the university. Its also lucky we have the beautiful PKU campus to walk around during the day and haven't been confined to our dormitory - this at least helps to keep us sane! Although being cut-off from food delivery services has been difficult, and relying on canteens everyday for meals has been challenging, but I guess this does provide some security over the quality and safety of the food we are eating.
Coming from New Zealand, the general perception towards China hasn't been the most positive during these times, although I feel any negative Chinese sentiment has died off as the country has taken the virus prevention more seriously. We closed the boarder to Chinese nationals following the rest of the western world quite early on, and this mostly impacted Chinese international students trying to get back into the country for the start of the new academic year. Now the country is in complete lock down for the next 4 weeks with boarders closed to all internationals, and it seems everyone is just now concerned for their own healthy and safety. I haven't seen a lot of China blaming which is nice given this is now a world problem ,and shouldn't be targeted directly at China, however, after things settle down im not sure that will be the case.
Aside from seeing the rather lack of common sense shown by the west with flooding supermarkets, fighting over toilet paper supplies and freighting the public with over dramatic media reporting, which have all stood out to me having experienced China's relatively cool and calm control procedures enforced and followed, one thing which has kept me smiling has been catching up with a lot of old friends via online platforms. It's always difficult trying to catch up with people given different time zones and busy schedules, but now everyone has mostly been stuck inside its provided a great opportunity to reach out to old mates you haven't talked to in a long time. Really recommend sending a few messages to old school friends or previous colleagues you haven't heard from in a while to see what they have been up to!
Would love to see a wechat, slack or google group set up for some more discussion and sharing of interesting links! I also really appreciate any translations you provide of interesting China stories that aren't as accessible in other languages!
Keep up the great work with the newsletter!
-Wes
Heard stories of Chinese stories flying to a 3rd country, self-isolating for 14 days and then flying to NZ/AU, followed by another 14 days quarantine, just to make it back to school. Pretty incredible.
Hi Wesley,
Thanks for kicking things off. Yeah I dont think there's been as much coverage on students quarantined in Chinese universities--in CN or EN media. Full respect I think you and the other students have been...well still are... in longer quarantine than anybody else facing this ordeal so far-even more than Wuhan.
I like the idea about connecting with friends, the one thing that slips of our agenda in normal times. I've been able to connect with some undergrad friends after a long hiatus.
Hi Dev,
Thanks for keeping us up to date on what's happening inside China. Sitting at home on the 8th day of the national lockdown, one wonders how did China manage this crisis without such a total lockdown.
As for the lockdown itself, I was fortunate to get used to WFH mode from the beginning of this year only, given that I had to write my dissertation. But I have to admit, with everyone at home, WFH is quite difficult and intense. So, I have been mostly spending my daytime with the family and night writing the dissertation.
On the perceptions of China, there have been lots of WhatsApp forwards on how China deliberately unleashed this virus. One can also see a change in Indian news channels' reporting on the subject, calling it Chinese virus and all. So much so that even a much sober and saner channel like NDTV too starts its news bulletin showing virus originating in Wuhan and then spreading all over the world, while still saying coronavirus. Quite interesting times here to watch how Indian media which for most of the time is obsessed with Pakistan, is now focusing on China's so-called rogue behaviour. One hashtag is also apparently viral - #ChinaLiedPeopleDied. Speaking of which, much speculation here also about the extent of deaths in Wuhan, with quite a few news stories reporting how crematoriums are handing out ashes to thousands of families.
As expected, meme folks are working overtime, possibly in an effort to kill time, sitting at home. Most of the memes focus on the travails of lockdown, but some are also focusing on China's role. One interesting tweet/meme which apparently went viral was when the BJP MP Subramanian Swamy tweeted about how the strain of virus spreading in India is less powerful than what affected the rest of the world and the United States. To which, one twitter user replied as to here also China has given a low-quality item to India - a take on the low-quality of the Chinese goods sold in India.
Interestingly, some social media users from Kashmir have drawn comparisons to their own experiences of curfew and lockdown, particularly one that was imposed last year in August when the region's special status was withdrawn. Many have commented saying that they hope Indians are now more sensitive to the Kashmiris now that they too have been locked down at home, even if for completely different reasons.
Well, keep up your good work and lets surely catch up next time when you are here.
In a sense
Hey Sameer, thanks for sharing.
The hashtag you mentioned #ChinaLiedPeopleDied caught my attention too. I've noticed a growing number of influential journalists, academics, and ex-diplomats use it on Twitter, and even in written commentaries, referring to Coronavirus as 'Chinese virus' very liberally. Even saw an ex-amb openly endorse calls for China to be tried internationally for genocide(!). This is what first got me to notice the trend--something we must touch base on at a later point.
As for Kashmir its fantastic that they are a voice again social media again. Wonder if this irony will dawn on people in the rest of the country, but that may be wishful thinking. More memes on this very much in order!
Good luck with WFH - high pressure night writing is know to bring out the best flow. Have to admit I miss reading your pieces. Take care!
Love the idea of this thread :) Slack/Discord/Discourse would definitely be welcome. Feels like there's merit in deeper conversations.
been hearing a few things about Discord, Discourse is new to me. Gotta check both out, thanks Sid.
Hi Dev,
Majority Indians have always hated the Chinese for selling cheap quality products in India. This virus is only increasing that hate.
There are lot of rumours on WhatsApp, which people blindly believe, that the Chinese have purposely spread this virus so as to destroy the economy of the developed and the developing nations.
But one thing the Chinese should definitely do is ban the consumption of wild animals even for medical research.
Businesses, especially small and medium size ones, are suffering a lot here. Worst hit are obviously the farmers. It's almost the begining of mango season, the changing climate conditions have already delayed the mangoes and now the virus has destroyed the whole demand for these mangoes. The season lasts only till mid June and for a lot of mango farmers these 3 months are their main source of income for the entire year.
The Government on the other hand is doing great to curtail the spreading of the virus. Also doing great on providing help to the underprivileged.
But the PM recently requested all the companies to pay the salaries of all the employees as well as not lay off anyone during this period. Which is fair enough but the Government hasn't declared any package that can help the companies pay the salaries assuming there's going to be almost zero business for 1.5 to 2 months. That's where MSMEs will really suffer.
- Ajinkya
Innteresting things happening in the startup world here - founders are panicking, many will probably shut down as VCs make the decision of not making any new investments (like Sequoia did with their letter to portfolio companies). Work seems to be carrying on with work from home increasingly becoming harder. We're also seeing a pick up in the number of listeners listening to the podcast, which is good!
General perceptions of China negative here in India with certain media houses running campaigns to label it "China virus". Additionally, terrible disgusting stereotypes like "Chinese eat dogs, fish, everything" are being reinforced which is extremely saddening :(
Yea can imagine this is a good time to experiment with more live content with everyone glued to devices (📣 Ravish co-runs the Turnaround Newsletter & Usecase podcast on Indian tech ecosystem https://turnaround.substack.com/subscribe?utm_campaign=button-below-meta).
I'm very interested in how tech communities mobilise in times like this, whether in terms of building tools to help pandemic combat or tweak their products to the demands and restrictions of quarantine. There are some interesting examples in China like contact-less delivery or Didi setting up stations across the country to disinfect cars and install barriers between driver and passenger.
Some of my favourite things has been the explosion of CoronaGo remixes. This one by Mumbai-based producer Sid Vashi https://www.instagram.com/p/B963joXpCYm/?igshid=58k5ybbwogil
Hi Anj and I are in Alabama where they just instituted an official state order yesterday and it looks like the next big frontier in America to get hit hard is the American South. I think people do find China at fault in a way but now the virus is so global people associate it with New York in the US I think. When not thinking about this we are crossing movies off our bucket list and enjoying! See Sweet Home Alabama for some delicious Bush-era fetishization of rural America
Hey Dev,
Takshashila Institute is running a survey on perceptions of China, which I believe would be helpful to distribute to your readers. Please let me know if I can make an introduction.
Best,
Varun Deshpande
Hey Varun,
yes, its run by Manoj, also a subscriber. Good idea on sharing it here.
📣 public opinion on Indian views of COVID-19 and China's role. https://t.co/wiZ28HCARJ?amp=1
Great!
Hey Dev!
Here in Germany, we are still allowed to go outside for a walk or sports as long as we keep 1.5m distance. If you go out in groups, you have to be able to prove to the police that you actually live together. While I think that's a sensible rule on paper, here in Berlin the parks are getting crowded to the point that it's impossible to keep the mandated distance at choke points.
The police are driving around, announcing via loudspeaker that you aren't allowed to sit, but once they are around the corner, people sit down again. As the weather is fantastic, we are outside with the kids a lot as well. Being at the "frische Luft" (fresh air) is such a big part of German culture I think it has to get a lot worse before they consider restricting it. That's how it looked today at Tempelhofer Feld (the park that used to be the old inner-city airport)
https://photos.app.goo.gl/XbswBv81uopG3bz1A
There is no noticeable animosity towards China in the German media and on German Twitter. I saw one conservative blogger retweeting US anti-Chinese tweets (mostly of the "China lied, people died" variety) but he was getting pushback even from his audience.
In general, the public discussion about the whole situation is very rational. Commentators are proud that Merkel is the only European head of government who didn't use war rhetoric in her televised address. Instead, she suggested that grandkids could record a podcast for their grandparents. Sweet.
Scientists, not politicians are dominating the airwaves. Christian Drosten, the head of virology at the Berlin university hospital Charité, is the super-star of the crisis and is being interviewed non-stop. A daily (!) podcast with him, where he talks about virology and current research on Covid-19, is trending.
A lot of shops are still open, the local bakery and the wineshop (the one where we had a drink, Dev) are doing deliveries in the neighborhood now and Yoga-studios and fitness clubs are doing their lessons via videoconference. Even for the toilet paper supply crisis, there's already an app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.postillon.toilettenpapier
Digital toilet paper! The free version has is three-ply. Via in-app purchase, you can upgrade to four-ply toilet paper ;-)
Thanks for the update from Berlin. Germany so impressive with its testing and low CFR, and one of the best dashboards to boot https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/478220a4c454480e823b17327b2bf1d4/page/page_1/.
Its great to see places adapt with delivery & live streaming...I hope you've upgraded to four ply. Drones, loudspeakers, and (rather grimly in 🇮🇳) batons the tools being used to coerce people to stay in.
Today the "Robert Koch Institut" (our cdc) said the low CFR ist due to two factors: Lots of testing (in mild cases as well) & mostly young people getting infected up to now (tourists going skiing in Italy/Austria).
Probably will get worse... :-(