Do you still remember the 2020 lockdown? Masking and social distancing policies became the norm while businesses, schools, and offices went quiet…more than two years into COVID, we have now learned to live with the virus, somewhat. However, in the Chinese city of Shanghai, the definition of “lockdown” is brought to a new level by people in power.

In March of 2022, Omicron sneaked into Shanghai, the biggest city in China. The city mandated an extremely strict Covid lockdown, affecting the lives of more than 25 million people. We had a long talk with a resident in Shanghai to tell us her first-hand experience about what the lockdown means to her, and those around her. The persistence and displays of the humanity of the Shanghai citizens in the midst of this quarantine are incredible.

To protect her from the possible censorship in China, we changed her voice and masked her identity in this interview.