Thinking about it, my blog hasn’t been updated for almost a year. There are many reasons for this. One is that throughout 2022, my entire life revolved around the pandemic, and there really wasn’t much to write about. Another reason is laziness—I’m in the late stages of procrastination, putting things off until I lost track altogether…
Three years is neither long nor short in a person’s life. Although some people may not have made it through these three years successfully, from my personal experience, I can say I’ve been incredibly lucky. Aside from being confined at home during the Shanghai lockdown, I neither got infected nor became a close or secondary contact. I didn’t even have to cancel any plans to return to Changchun, and my work wasn’t significantly affected either. However, as I get older and exercise less, my physical condition is definitely not what it used to be. It feels like various parts of my body are aging, and I’m getting lazier by the day.
2020
At the end of January, I went back home for the Chinese New Year. Wuhan was locked down, and Changchun was freezing cold. I went out for walks outdoors every day. On my second day back in Changchun, I bought two packs of masks at a pharmacy and couldn’t find any afterward. At first, I could still get KFC, but later that stopped too. After successfully returning to Shanghai, dine-in services were suspended, and few people went out. I took walks in different directions every day; popular shops had no lines, and I tried many restaurants I’d never visited before. April and May were all about Restaurant Week and self-driving trips—to Suzhou, Huzhou, Ningbo, and Zhoushan. In the second half of the year, the pandemic situation stabilized. In July, I kicked off the era of unlimited flight passes, visiting Haikou, Sanya, Guangzhou, Luoyang, Taiyuan, Yantai, Zhangjiajie, Changsha, Xi’an, Shenzhen, Lijiang, and Xishuangbanna, making it the year I flew the most in history…
However, after a two-month break from working out, my athletic ability and strength noticeably declined—not to mention my cardiorespiratory fitness—which has never fully recovered to its 2019 level.
2021
The pandemic was relatively stable this year. I visited Qingdao, Wuxi, Ningbo, Xianju, and Shaoxing, saw various exhibitions, enjoyed all kinds of delicious food, and even scored several free meals. Coffee accompanied me every day. But with the travel code that could show an asterisk at any moment, the risk of traveling increased significantly. The asterisks changed with risk level adjustments, meaning sudden changes and potential quarantine at any time. So, every trip required very careful consideration of destinations and various risks, full of uncertainty. Remarkably, during this entire year, I only took one nucleic acid test…
My workout frequency this year was actually okay; the main issue was that I couldn’t increase intensity. My muscles were stiff, my knees felt uncomfortable, and higher intensity led to insomnia at night. As a result, my routine might have been even more casual than the previous year…
2022
Everything was fine during the Spring Festival, but by March, a pandemic outbreak hit. Unexpectedly, this led directly to citywide lockdowns—Changchun first, followed closely by Shanghai. Whether in Shanghai or Changchun, the daily theme was scrambling for groceries and taking nucleic acid tests. In Changchun, choices were simpler: just vegetable packages arranged by community grid workers via WeChat group sign-ups… Shanghai was different—with government care packages, group buys, delivery services, and flash sales on various grocery apps. Apart from slightly higher prices and fewer options, my quality of life hardly dropped. Being locked down alone at home, once various foods started arriving, all I could do was eat like crazy… My cooking skills improved significantly too… Not only did I move less, but I also ate more… Getting fatter and fatter…
In June, the lockdown suddenly lifted, but dine-in services hadn’t resumed yet. I had to go to suburban districts like Jinshan or Fengxian just to sit down for a meal. The pandemic’s impact on many industries was profound. Afterward, I stayed busy organizing belongings, selling second-hand items, moving, and shopping. It wasn’t until September, after settling into my new place, that I finally had the chance to travel again. I must say, since moving away from the bustling city center, cooking daily, and making coffee at home, life has become peaceful, beautiful, and happy.
In September, I went to Haining to watch the tidal bore; during the National Day holiday, I visited Nantong; at month’s end, I went to Hangzhou; and in November, I traveled to Suzhou. Throughout this year, health codes were manipulated in various ways across different regions. Upon arrival in Hangzhou, my code turned yellow, confining me to my hotel for three days. Later, some places even imposed rules barring visitors from entering public venues for the first few days after arriving from other cities. With outbreaks popping up everywhere, containment became difficult, and travel grew increasingly challenging.
Even more unexpectedly, restrictions were abruptly lifted toward the end of the year. Regions nationwide faced infection peaks, after which herd immunity was essentially achieved.
This year, I probably spent nearly half the year unable to go to the gym. Plus, now that the gym is farther away, factors like weather affect me even more… Basically, I’ve become increasingly laid-back about it all…
2023
This year, I successfully returned to Changchun for the Spring Festival. Everything looks good so far, and I hope things will fully return to normal soon. Maybe it’s time to dust off my passport, unused for three years~~~
There are no photos on this computer right now. Once I’m back in Shanghai, I’ll make up for it by writing a few blog posts about last year…
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