I'm writing this from my favourite little bustling coffee shop in central Shanghai, China; after months of uncertainty, quiet streets, ever-changing regulations, and cancellations, the majority of China is starting to reopen.
Life is not brimming with the optimism that I'm sure you'd be hoping for at the end of a months-long quarantine, but people are out walking, enjoying the good weather, meeting in coffee shops and trying to get back in the groove of work.
I own a media company here in China and a large portion of my work while I'm in Shanghai is supporting small businesses; it hasn't been easy on anyone, some of the businesses I work with haven't survived, it's a stark reminder that supporting small local businesses is so crucial, especially right now... and if you are a small business, now is the time to be creative.
I've worked with bars who are bottling their best selling cocktails for delivery, mental health companies who have transitioned to creating content to help guide people through isolation, and chefs busy making cooking demos for those who have a whole lot of time to spend in their kitchens.
My clients have been the epitome of the concept of 'silver linings', and beyond that, I have been so inspired by the people around me who have spent this time to finally pick up that dusty ukelele, to read that book they've been meaning to read, to write that book they've been meaning to write, stretch their bodies and minds little further with yoga, rebrand themselves, reassess their careers, passions, and ultimately shift the situation from being a lockdown to a personal wellness retreat.
My friends in Wuhan are learning this week that they will be let out of quarantine by mid-April, they will have been in strict lockdown for over 75 days. For one friend, that was 75 days learning to become a jazz pianist, for another, 75 cooking lessons from her elderly mother.
So, for my friends at home, who may be at the beginning of this (albeit hopefully shorter) time, how will you spend it?
Graeme Kennedy
Shanghai, China
About the photograph: I took this photo six weeks ago, when China was in the height of the outbreak here, on my way home on the quiet streets I came across this family burning paper cloths and money. This ritual is a way of passing these paper items to relatives in the afterlife. Although not an uncommon act, against the backdrop of Shanghai under partial lockdown, it certainly made me stop for a moment.
There was a hashtag that's going around China that week: #没有一个春天不会到来 which means 'there is never a spring that won't come' - it was easy to see China as this pit of darkness and plague in that moment, not to mention the xenophobia happening beyond the borders, but to me, the moment that I captured here is not about that, it's about how families are coming together, making the time to respect traditions, form community. To me this isn't three people huddled together on a cold dark street in an epidemic, this is about how every number you have seen in the news represents people who, like these three, have stories and memories and are eagerly awaiting that 'spring' to come to bring back the normalcy so many people in this city crave for.
