Notes from China: Dealing with a virus with patience, fortitude and humour

An upside of these extraordinary circumstances is that closer bonds have developed in China's small families

N i hao, how are you all doing?” shouts a young woman, in a short format video, leaning against the railing of her apartment balcony. “I haven’t stepped out of my home in over two weeks! What is everyone up to?” Within seconds, there is a trail of funny rejoinders from apartment after apartment across the street.  

“I am eating beef noodle soup for my home-office lunch break. What are all of you eating?” asks the same woman in another similar video, this time, with a steaming bowl in her hands. Pat comes a volley of replies, rattling off a