As someone who lived through the Shanghai lockdown, I was unable to fully grasp or reflect on the immense pain of that disaster at the time. Being limited access to the internet (due to China’s firewall) and consumed by work, my biggest concern was the fear of running out of food. Each day, I found myself searching for recipes and cooking whatever I could. I’m grateful to the author for helping me revisit and piece together the fragments of that year, reopening wounds and allowing me to see the absurdities and tragedies that unfolded. All of it—the acts of violence and the heroic acts of resistance—should never be forgotten. I am thankful to have read this book. For those of us living in a stifled environment, such records and sharing have always been so important.
The author’s mention of the vast voids in our lives resonates with a sense of confusion I’ve long had. Their analysis of the internal logic behind societal and governmental operations sheds light on many of the issues we face. Living here, I now see some of the underlying causes more clearly. The strange things I encounter in daily life—whether it’s poor quality products with no support or my reluctance to go to the hospital—are all rooted in this. That deep sense of helplessness when things go wrong, the feeling that no one is really there to help, is something many of us have experienced. As they say, “When all is well, everyone’s happy; when something goes wrong, no one answers.”
I don’t know how many people are truly awake to these issues. Watching everyone mindlessly scroll through brainwashing videos on their phones fills me with a subtle anxiety.
Finally, I salute those who stand in resistance, and I hold on to hope.