China
Lockdown in Xi’an: Desperate people swap iPhones for some rice
A makeshift grocery store in Xi’an: The population is running out of food and prices are skyrocketing.
© Uncredited / CHINATOPIX / AP / DPA
For two weeks now, residents of the Chinese metropolis of Xi’an have barely been allowed to leave their homes. Food is slowly becoming scarce, and resentment and despair grow.
The Chinese metropolis of Xi’an has been in complete lockdown for two weeks. As a result, the 13 million inhabitants inside are almost completely sealed off from the outside world: Most shops are closed, and purchases are only allowed every three days. Most recently, the rules have been tightened even further: Many residents have been told that they can only leave the house to be tested for the corona virus.
The longer the lockdown lasts, the more desperation among the population increases. Groceries can only be ordered, but deliveries do not always arrive. Some residents have hardly any food supplies left inside. As a result, a kind of black market has formed in the city in central China, reports the BBC, citing social media posts from Xi’an. Confused Chinese would now exchange objects and technical devices for food.
Lockdown in China: iPhones are being exchanged for groceries
The exchange rate: cigarettes for cabbage, dishwashing detergent for apples, you get some vegetables for ladies’ hygiene articles. According to the BBC, one user even swapped his Nintendo Switch for instant noodles and rolls. IPhones and tablets are also offered in exchange for rice. “Everything is traded in Xi’an now,” one resident told Radio Free Asia. “People swap their things with the neighbors in the same building because they don’t have anything to eat.”
Getting food in the traditional way is difficult. The residents are barely allowed to leave their houses, the curfew is closely monitored by the police and, if necessary, enforced by force. If you still manage to get into a shop, you have to pay completely overpriced groceries. Fresh goods in particular are almost unaffordable, residents of Xi’an report on their social media channels.
It is true that the government tries to provide the population with the bare minimums and to present this to the public. But many users on the platforms complain that the deliveries are too low and that wealthy residents or party officials are also being favored.
Lockdown in Xi’an should only be lifted if there are no infections
Xi’an is fighting the largest corona outbreak in China in months. Since December 9, more than 1,500 cases of the delta variant of the coronavirus have been reported in Xi’an. However, the Chinese authorities recently reported “positive changes” in the metropolis, with the number of new infections falling. The lockdown should only be lifted when there are no more new infections.
China, which has a zero-covid policy, has largely got the virus under control. For more than a year, the pandemic situation in the People’s Republic has been much better than in many other countries. Before the start of the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing in early February, the authorities are determined to contain the virus. In doing so, they resort to drastic measures. A lockdown was also imposed in the east Chinese city of Yuzhou (population 1.1 million) – due to three new infections, all of them asymptomatic.
Sources: BBC / “Radio Free Asia” / AFP / DPA