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Images captured from Huangshan Mountain Park in Anhui province on April 4th show thousands of people crowding together, eager to experience the outdoors after months of travel restrictions and strict lockdown measures.
Images captured at Huangshan National Park on April 4th.
At 7:48 AM, authorities announced that the park had reached its daily limit of 20,000 visitors and immediately decided not to accept any more visitors to prevent potential risks.
Meanwhile, Shanghai also saw a massive return to the city after weeks of quiet. Shopping and transportation activities have become bustling again, and many restaurants that had closed just days before seem to be taking advantage of the situation to reopen, although they are still limiting the number of customers.
A similar situation unfolded in the capital, Beijing, as locals flocked to the city's parks and public areas. These crowds arose because it was the Qingming Festival in China, a traditional spring festival to commemorate ancestors and welcome the new spring.
And this is also when daily activities suddenly resumed after more than three months since Covid-19 was first detected in Wuhan. The disease has now infected nearly 1.3 million people and caused over 70,000 deaths. At its peak, China recorded thousands of new infections daily. However, the rate of infection in China has slowed significantly over the past month. China currently has over 82,000 confirmed cases and more than 3,300 deaths.
Activity at the markets has also picked up again.
With the epidemic situation in China initially under control, the government has gradually eased travel restrictions and lifted lockdowns; however, Chinese health experts are urging the public to remain vigilant. Zeng Guang, an epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, still maintains: "The epidemic is not completely over in China."
After images of crowds at Huangshan Mountain appeared on social media, People's Daily, the mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party, issued a stern warning to tourists: "Do not gather!"
In a commentary in People's Daily, the author stated that it's understandable for people to want to go out after their quarantine period, but now is not the time to let our guard down: "If asymptomatic cases appear in large gatherings, the consequences will be very serious!"
