There is an App which shows you the wait lines at each booth, apparently in off-peak hours its a lot better. But its still crazy and will be the new normal going forward.
Shanghai gets hot as well in the summer months, like peaks of 37-38 degrees in July
I would not want to be waiting in any line outdoors in the heat.
this is the main reason i hope we can ditch the masks. even now its 33 outside, but 133 on my face. 
They also have a lot of rain and a rainy season.
âOpening upâ is relative. The news the other day said restaurants, gyms etc. would remain closed, and even schools.
They are moving to opening up. Gucci is open and workers going back to the office on Monday.
Total joke. They were in a giant concentration camp and pets were being murdered a few weeks ago. Now itâs all forgotten
Meanwhile in China . . .
Neutralising antibodies against some Omicron sub-variants were largely undetectable after two doses of a Sinopharm vaccine. PHOTO: ST FILE
PUBLISHED
4 HOURS AGO
BEIJING (REUTERS) - A small Chinese study detailed in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal showed neutralising antibodies against some Omicron sub-variants were largely undetectable after two doses of a Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine, with a booster shot only partly restoring them.
The study comes as China, which has approved only locally developed Covid-19 shots including the Sinopharm vaccine, strives to improve vaccination rates, maintaining a âdynamic zero Covidâ policy aimed at eradicating all outbreaks while many countries have adopted an approach of learning to live with the virus.
The vaccine, BBIBP-CorV, is one of the two Sinopharm Covid shots approved for use in China, and is also the main shot that the state-owned firm has exported.
Among 25 individuals who received two doses of BBIBP-CorV vaccine, the neutralising activity against sub-variants such as BA.2.12.1 and BA.4/BA.5 âwas not or only minimally detectableâ, researchers said in correspondence published on Monday (June 20).
Neutralising activity against those sub-variants was observed in just 24 per cent-48 per cent of subjects who received a BBIBP-CorV booster shot after the two-dose product, researchers said, citing results from a group of 25 participants.
The rate improved slightly, to 30 per cent-53 per cent, for those who received a third shot made by a unit of Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products, another vaccine approved for use in China, according to data from another group of 30 subjects.
The study did not discuss the boostersâ efficacy, a rate that reflects how well they could lower the risk of Covid-19 disease or death, which is usually observed in large clinical trials.
Source: Reuters, via the Straits Times Chinese study shows some Omicron sub-variants escaping antibodies from Sinopharm shot
Guy
This is an excellent article on China right now. Not sure if belongs here, but actually a good article on China, which differs from a lot of the other articles, by not being shit.
My general feeling that China has just kind of stopped right now. There is a breakdown in the pragmatism and razor edge technocracy which buoyed their very impressive rise. Right now everyone seems scared of doing anything, in case they fall the wrong side of the leader. Iâm not seeing any of the innovation of five years ago. The COVID response is just kind of an encapsulation of this decision making vacuum l
That is a good article. Thank you for posting it.
Itâs implications go well beyond Beijingâs current zero COVID policy, though of course that is a big part of itâextending into broader dimensions of economic policy, foreign policy, risk of war, etc.
Guy
Itâs a western perspective.
âThe head-scratchers arenât limited to COVID rules.â
Outside of much of East Asia that makes sense.
The concern for me is whether Winnie will be more dangerous if heâs fucking up domestically.
I follow Chinese tech. About five years ago Technode was full of wide innovations and super bullish Chinese Startups looking to take on the world.
But since the crackdowns it feels like Chinese companies are just doing nothing. They are scared of any type of innovation or risk.
Same as other sectors in China. Feel like a lot of wealthy people and entrepreneurs are just lying flat at the moment and waiting to see how the wind blows.
Itâs quite interesting. China would always have to deal with some challenges like demographics and the property market, and a slowdown was inevitable, but since 2018(Xiâssecond term) they have done a lot to accelerate this process. Again, nothing more than recent COVID measures
Some Uyghers and Tibetans may disagree with this statement.
Iâd say thatâs my biggest point of contention with The Atlantic piece linked above. It paints a rosy picture in which the settler colonial state was just humming along nicely and âpragmaticallyâ until the Xi era. Yes, I donât think anyone would disgree that the Xi era has intensified the assault on anyone deemed to be unfit for his vision of Chineseness (whether in Xinjiang or HK)âbut in the western parts of the PRC theyâve been dealing with varations of this theme since the regime annexed their homes.
Guy
Iâm confused about your point, the article was talking about economic stability and general direction, rather than absolving the State of crimes in Xinjiang.
Itâs possible to say , talk about the US economy and politics on a macro level without discussing human rights abuses in Guantanamo bay or impoverished black neighborhoods.
That just wasnât the point of the article
My point was to draw attention to the perspective from which these developments are viewed.
I do have such questions whenever I see phrases such as ânothing moreâ (here I am not quoting The Atlantic piece; I am quoting you).
Guy
I mean that the COVID response and lockdown has accelerated a Chinese slowdown and general malaise. As have other measures like the media and technology crackdowns
Forgive me for how I view these sorts of things. I donât see things from the perspective of a business person, I am in the humanities where we think about points of view and how stories get told, who are the main actors, who is on the periphery of the story, what is left outside the frame. Those are the kinds of things I am thinking about when I read that Atlantic article.
From a macroperspective, weâll see how things shape up. Will policy lurch along until the Party Congress in November? Itâs hard to see a significant policy shift happening before then.
Guy
Proof Chinaâs lockdown is all about control
I come from a social sciences background. I think itâs important to compartmentalise things, because thatâs not what the CCP wants us to do. They want us to consider that they are representative of all levels of Chinese life, identity and culture and I refuse to
Itâs important to separate these things. The guy doing a vr start-up isnât connected to Xinjiang. China has life outside of the party.
Also its a double standard, we donât do the the same thing with other countries. You would be able to talk about the US economy or cinema, without mentioning the darker sides of society
So how is zero COVID working out in China?
Puppet Regime has a look.
Guy
Weaponizing Covid.
A family from the USA that have lived in China since 2006 decided that it was time to get out and go back to the USA.
Make sure you read the very last paragraph too!!