China and Covid19
From Peaches to Pears: 3 Natural Food Remedies Trending on Chinese Social Media in Times of Covid Outbreak
Even though experts suggest that natural food remedies won’t prevent or cure Covid, Chinese netizens believe in the power of peaches.
In December of 2022, during the rapid spread of Covid-19 across China after the country let go of its ‘zero Covid’ policy, fever and cough medicine were selling out fast. Some Covid patients turned to foods and drinks to help soothe Covid symptoms.
The following types of food have become especially popular on Chinese social media over the past few weeks.
1. Canned Yellow Peaches (黄桃罐头)
In December, when the number of Covid-19 infections spiked throughout China, canned yellow peaches suddenly received significant attention. Under the Weibo hashtag “Canned Yellow Peaches, the Mysterious Power from the East” (#东方神秘力量黄桃罐头#), netizens shared how canned yellow peaches helped them recover from Covid-19, describing it as “the god of children from Northeastern China” that “blessed every Northeastern Chinese child.” Some even joked that the government should include canned yellow peaches in the public health insurance package.
Netizens praising the effect of canned yellow peaches in alleviating diseases. Image from a post on Zhihu.
Although many state media quoted experts’ claims that canned yellow peaches cannot fight Covid-19 symptoms and might even worsen coughing, most netizens still believe in the power of peaches.
While most people acknowledge that natural food remedies aren’t always effective, they are seemingly unanimously against the “experts’ advice.” Under Pengpai News’ Weibo post and hashtag “Experts Claim Canned Yellow Peaches Might Worsen Cough” (#专家称黄桃罐头或加重咳嗽#),” some Weibo users commented that experts would not dare to discuss the supposed ineffectiveness of Lianhuaqingwen (traditional Chinese medicine that has become hot-selling during Covid outbreak) and thus criticize canned peaches instead.
Another commenter wrote: “Who would actually believe that canned yellow peaches can cure diseases? It is just like a placebo when we’re sick.”
A satirical comparison of the effects between canned yellow peaches and Lianhuaqingwen.
One popular image compared the effectiveness of canned yellow peaches and Lianhuaqingwen. According to the image, the former is tasty and hydrates, while also containing electrolytes and calories and serving as comfort food to people, whereas the latter is only capable of potentially having side effects for the kidney and liver.
Canned yellow peaches are a nostalgic comfort food, especially for people from Northeastern China. For the generations growing up during the 1970s and 1980s, canned yellow peaches are known as a ‘cure-all.’ In an era of food scarcity, canned yellow peaches were a sweet luxury that most children could only get when they were ill.
One commenter on Q&A platform Zhihu wrote: “Eating canned yellow peaches is a ritual.” Other netizens shared their childhood memories about the food – one commenter recalled how eating canned yellow peaches at the hospital after a car accident left a deep impression on them.
A Weibo post sharing ‘yellow peaches’ childhood memories. The user wrote about parents bringing canned yellow peaches as a gift for relatives who were ill: “At that time, we associated cans (of yellow peaches) with being sick.” (Originally from a Zhihu post.)
A supermarket sale of canned yellow peaches. The Chinese characters say “táoguò yìqíng,” actually meaning “escaping the pandemic,” but as a word joke, táo is written with character 桃 for peaches instead of 逃 for escape. Image from a Zhihu post.
Moreover, the name of the food has also come to be associated with recovering from Covid. As the character ‘桃’ (peach) sounds the same as the character ‘逃’ (escape), eating canned yellow peaches is also jokingly used in the context of ‘escaping’ from the epidemic.
2. Steamed Orange with Salt (盐蒸橙子)
Another food that gained popularity during the Covid-19 outbreak is steamed orange with salt, which is considered a more medicinal food remedy than canned yellow peaches. The food has since long been used as a Chinese folk prescription for sore throat. The widespread Covid-19 symptom of severe sore throat, sometimes also described as “swallowing blades” (喉咙吞刀片),” has made the folk prescription popular again.
Here is the cooking procedure according to many online posts: wash and soak the orange in salted water; cut the orange at ⅕ point from the top; spread ⅓ spoon of salt onto the remaining ⅘ oranges; put two parts of the orange together and steam (steaming time varies between posts from 20 min up to two hours); eat the orange with the peel and the rest of the water.
Contrary to canned yellow peaches, experts have acknowledged the benefits of eating salt-steamed oranges. According to a post released by Youth Hunan (青年湖南), the official Weibo account of the Communist Youth League of Hunan Province, some ‘experts’ state that the peel of salt-steamed oranges help alleviate discomforts in the throat, and the vitamin C can prevent and alleviate viral infections. In reports by other mainstream media, such as CCTV News, it is also claimed that salt-steamed oranges might be helpful, and that the salt can make the natural sugar taste sweeter.
However, steamed oranges with salt are not as beloved among the public as canned yellow peaches. People’s comments on the effectiveness of salty steamed oranges vary. Some share that they stopped coughing after eating them, while others criticize it as having “no use at all,” or even exacerbating the pain.
Despite the disagreement on its effectiveness, most Weibo posts agree that steamed oranges with salt are just “not tasty” at all. Contrary to the CCTV report that suggested that salt brings out the sweetness of oranges, many describe the food as extremely bitter and sour to the extent of “crying while eating.”
In online discussions about steamed oranges with salt, the distrust in expert opinions surfaced again. Although experts claim that the food is beneficial and alleviates symptoms, some netizens seem annoyed that it does not do anything for them at all: “I’ve been eating this for three days, not a damn change and it tastes disgusting.”
3. Stewed Pear with Rock Sugar (冰糖炖梨)
Besides canned yellow peaches and salty steamed oranges, many other kinds of food and folk prescriptions have also become trends during the Covid-19 outbreak. There’s salt-steamed lemons (盐蒸柠檬), boiled scallion water (葱白煮水), roasted oranges (烤橘子), white radish soup (萝卜汤), honeysuckle chrysanthemum tea (金銀花菊花茶) or brown sugar ginger tea (红糖姜茶), which is also commonly used to alleviate menstrual pain.
Among them, you’ll also find stewed pear with rock sugar (冰糖炖梨), which is commonly eaten to alleviate symptoms like sore throat and coughing as well reducing excessive phlegm. Many netizens indicate that it is something their parents made for them, and that it is sweet, warm, and comforting.
Recipes vary, but the pears, generally yellow pears (雪梨), can be either cooked or boiled and its core is then removed and filled with rock sugar as well as other optional ingredients, such as Chinese dates, dried Goji berries, or Sichuan peppers (see a recipe here).
Despite many people expressing their love for stewed pear with rock sugar, a recent article by the Taiwanese ‘Health 2.0’ site claimed that the food remedy is somewhat outdated as other ingredients are supposedly more effective against a persistent cough, such as daikon (combined with honey, rock sugar), which is also used as a home remedy for its antibacterial properties.
The advantages of many foods and folk prescriptions are still up for debate. However, recent related online discussions show that the comfort or even the placebo effect of certain food remedies are very important in the Covid-19 experience of many Chinese people. Some are 100% sure they work.
“One bite and it instantly made me feel better,” one commenter wrote about their homemade stewed pear. Some people admit they do not necessarily even mind if it really alleviates their symptoms or not: “It’s just so tasty!”
By Zilan Qian
with contributions by Manya Koetse
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China and Covid19
Repurposing China’s Abandoned Nucleic Acid Booths: 10 Innovative Transformations
Abandoned nucleic acid booths are getting a second life through these new initiatives.
Just months ago, nucleic acid testing booths were the most lively spots of some Chinese cities. During the 2022 Shanghai summer, for example, there were massive queues in front of the city’s nucleic acid booths, as people needed a negative PCR test no older than 72 hours for accessing public transport, going to work, or visiting markets and malls.
The word ‘hésuān tíng‘ (核酸亭), nucleic acid booth (also：核酸采样小屋), became a part of China’s pandemic lexicon, just like hésuān dìtú (核酸地图), the nucleic acid test map lauched in May 2022 that would show where you can get a nucleic test.
Example of nucleic acid test map.
During Halloween parties in Shanghai in 2022, some people even came dressed up as nucleic test booths – although local authorities could not appreciate the creative costume.
Halloween 2022: dressed up as nucliec acid booths. Via @manyapan twitter.
In December 2022, along with the announced changed rules in China’s ‘zero Covid’ approach, nucleic acid booths were suddenly left dismantled and empty.
With many cities spending millions to set up these booths in central locations, the question soon arose: what should they do with the abandoned booths?
This question also relates to who actually owns them, since the ownership is mixed. Some booths were purchased by authorities, others were bought by companies, and there are also local communities owning their own testing booths. Depending on the contracts and legal implications, not all booths are able to get a new function or be removed yet (Worker’s Daily).
In Tianjin, a total of 266 nucleic acid booths located in Jinghai District were listed for public acquisition earlier this month, and they were acquired for 4.78 million yuan (US$683.300) by a local food and beverage company which will transform the booths into convenience service points, selling snacks or providing other services.
Tianjin is not the only city where old nucleic acid testing booths are being repurposed. While some booths have been discarded, some companies and/or local governments – in cooperation with local communities – have demonstrated creativity by transforming the booths into new landmarks. Since the start of 2023, different cities and districts across China have already begun to repurpose testing booths. Here, we will explore ten different way in which China’s abandoned nucleic test booths get a second chance at a meaningful existence.
1: Pharmacy/Medical Booths
Via ‘copyquan’ republished on Sohu.
Blogger ‘copyquan’ recently explored various ways in which abandoned PCR testing points are being repurposed.
One way in which they are used is as small pharmacies or as medical service points for local residents (居民医疗点). Alleviating the strain on hospitals and pharmacies, this was one of the earliest ways in which the booths were repurposed back in December of 2022 and January of 2023.
Chongqing, Tianjin, and Suzhou were among earlier cities where some testing booths were transformed into convenient medical facilities.
2: Market Stalls
In Suzhou, Jiangsu province, the local government transformed vacant nucleic acid booths into market stalls for the Spring Festival in January 2022, offering them free of charge to businesses to sell local products, snacks, and traditional New Year goods.
The idea was not just meant as a way for small businesses to conveniently sell to local residents, it was also meant as a way to attract more shoppers and promote other businesses in the neighborhood.
3: Community Service Center
Small grid community center in Shizhuang Village, image via Sohu.
Some residential areas have transformed their local nucleic acid testing booths into community service centers, offering all kinds of convenient services to neighborhood residents.
These little station are called wǎnggé yìzhàn (网格驿站) or “grid service stations,” and they can serve as small community centers where residents can get various kinds of care and support.
4: “Refuel” Stations
In February of this year, 100 idle nucleic acid sampling booths were transformed into so-called “Rider Refuel Stations” (骑士加油站) in Zhejiang’s Pinghu. Although it initially sounds like a place where delivery riders can fill up their fuel tanks, it is actually meant as a place where they themselves can recharge.
Delivery riders and other outdoor workers can come to the ‘refuel’ station to drink some water or tea, warm their hands, warm up some food and take a quick nap.
5: Free Libraries
image via sohu.
In various Chinese cities, abandoned nucleic acid booths have been transformed into little free libraries where people can grab some books to read, donate or return other books, and sit down for some reading.
Changzhou is one of the places where you’ll find such “drifting bookstores” (漂流书屋) (see video), but similar initiatives have also been launched in other places, including Suzhou.
6: Study Space
Photos via Copyquan’s article on Sohu.
Another innovative way in which old testing points are being repurposed is by turning them into places where students can sit together to study. The so-called “Let’s Study Space” (一间习吧), fully airconditioned, are opened from 8 in the morning until 22:00 at night.
Students – or any citizens who would like a nice place to study – can make online reservations with their ID cards and scan a QR code to enter the study rooms.
There are currently ten study booths in Anji, and the popular project is an initiative by the Anji County Library in Zhejiang (see video).
7: Beer Kiosk
Hoegaarden beer shop, image via Creative Adquan.
Changing an old nucleic acid testing booth into a beer bar is a marketing initiative by the Shanghai McCann ad agency for the Belgium beer brand Hoegaarden.
The idea behind the bar is to celebrate a new spring after the pandemic. The ad agency has revamped a total of six formr nucleic acid booths into small Hoegaarden ‘beer gardens.’
8: Police Box
In Taizhou City, Jiangsu Province, authorities have repurposed old testing booths and transformed them into ‘police boxes’ (警务岗亭) to enhance security and improve the visibility of city police among the public.
Currently, a total of eight vacant nucleic acid booths have been renovated into modern police stations, serving as key points for police presence and interaction with the community.
9: Lottery Ticket Booths
Image via The Paper
Some nucleic acid booths have now been turned into small shops selling lottery tickets for the China Welfare Lottery. One such place turning the kiosks into lottery shops is Songjiang in Shanghai.
Using the booths like this is a win-win situation: they are placed in central locations so it is more convenient for locals to get their lottery tickets, and on the other hand, the sales also help the community, as the profits are used for welfare projects, including care for the elderly.
10: Mini Fire Stations
Micro fire stations, images via ZjNews.
Some communities decided that it would be useful to repurpose the testing points and turn them into mini fire kiosks, just allowing enough space for the necessary equipment to quickly respond to fire emergencies.
Want to read more about the end of ‘zero Covid’ in China? Check our other articles here.
By Manya Koetse,
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China and Covid19
The Hottest Place in China: How Zibo Became a Popular Tourist Destination and an Online Hit
There are even special Zibo BBQ trains now. This is how Zibo barbecue suddenly became the hottest meal of the country.
In central Shandong province, bordering the provincial capital Jinan to the west, you will find the city of Zibo (淄博). With its 4.7 million inhabitants, the old industrial and mining city was not exactly known as a trendy tourist destination. But that has all changed now. Everybody is talking about Zibo.
For the upcoming May 1st holiday, hotel bookings in Zibo went up 800% compared to 2019, making it one of the most popular destinations in Shandong. The city has especially attracted online attention since March of 2023, with hashtags and hot searches peaking over the previous week.
How did Zibo become such an online sensation, especially among China’s young travelers? The city’s hit status is widely discussed on Chinese social media apps these days. The emergence of such an overnight sensation is usually the result of various factors coming together at the right time, and this is also the case with the hype surrounding Zibo.
Zibo Barbecue
Its appealing barbecue culture is the first and main reason why Zibo is so hot nowadays. The city has been known for its barbecue restaurants for years, and creating a thriving open-air BBQ entertainment environment is also something the local authorities have invested in. They are publicizing Zibo as an ambassador city for “Friendly Shandong” (“好客山东”), the slogan the province uses to promote its image and boost tourism.
The Zibo BBQ experience includes every table having its own small stove and it has that ‘do it yourself’ factor that hotpot-style dinners also have: when the skewers are served, the diners have to grill them themselves and then wrap them in thin pancakes, usually with spring onions.
Zibo barbecue, images via social media.
As one of its tourism promotion initiatives, Zibo has set up special tourist trains and dedicated BBQ bus routes to attract groups of tourists and boost local tourism after the pandemic years. Train ticket sales for May 1st already doubled that of Spring Festival, and tickets for the Beijing South-Zibo route sold out online within a minute the moment they became available.
A Kind City in Difficult Times
Another reason for Zibo’s sudden fame was suggested by some Chinese netizens (including the popular @地瓜熊老六), who said that Zibo played a special role during China’s zero-Covid policy.
Zibo first went trending after a group of students from Jinan went there in March of this year. They came to Zibo because this was where they apparently were quarantined for a while during Covid, and they were well taken care of during their stay.
According to one Zibo local, the students also celebrated their last night in Zibo at the time with a major BBQ feast.
It is said that the students from Jinan wanted to go back to Zibo at this time and spend time there as a way to thank the city – not knowing they would start a viral sensation.
Power of TikTok
Douyin, the Chinese TikTok app, is also at the heart of Zibo’s recent success.
As reported by 36kr, Zibo first became a hot topic on Douyin in early March, when the videos of the initial groups of students taking the high-speed train to Zibo to eat barbecue went viral.
In April, Zibo again hit the hot trending lists on Douyin after one vlogger tried out ten different food stalls in the city and found that they all gave him the right portions or even gave him some extra food for free, reinforcing the idea that Zibo is a hospitable city.
What followed was a snowball effect, from Douyin to Xiaohongshu to Weibo, with videos showing Zibo diners singing together while eating and having a good time spreading all over social media, only increasing the appeal of the city. “Zibo is just all over my timeline,” some commenters wrote on April 15.
Crazy Travel after Covid
According to the Chinese media platform DT Finance (DT财经), Zibo is a destination that especially resonates with Chinese students who have new wishes when it comes to traveling.
Especially during the pandemic and China’s stringent Covid measures, many people have spent a lot of time indoors, quarantined, locked down, and/or unable to travel. Now that spring is here, people want to seize the moment and go out and enjoy their leisure time. This also means that instead of planning longer holidays well in advance, people book shorter, last-minute trips.
Social media pics of Zibo trips.
This is also one of the reasons why Zibo is especially popular among students from Shandong, who can hop on a train, reach their destination, and find themselves enjoying a beer and barbecue within a matter of hours.
Stories from Zibo
In light of the craze surrounding Zibo, there are various stories emerging from the thriving city that only add to its charm. For example, there are many videos showing the lively scenes around BBQ restaurants which went viral.
One visitor needed to catch his train but still wanted a taste of Zibo BBQ, so one female shop owner hurried things along and made sure he got his Zibo dinner (#淄博老板娘为赶高铁小伙1v1烤串#).
Then there was a 95-year-old veteran who visited the Zibo BBQ scene and his visit also made its rounds on social media (#95岁老兵体验淄博烧烤被围观#).
Another trending hashtag is about Zibo’s music events (#淄博音乐节#), about some of the planned events and (rock) concerts taking place in Zibo in late April and early May. “Zibo’s cultural tourism office really understand how to do it,” various commenters wrote, praising how Zibo is not just known for its barbecue restaurants but also for its lively music scene.
Then there are the videos showing an entire crowd singing ‘happy birthday’ because one person is celebrating their birthday.
All in all, it’s clear that Zibo did something right. Especially in these times when so many cities across China are doing all they can to promote their town as a tourist destination (read all about it here), Zibo has proven that consistency is key to success: stay kind, be reliable, but most of all, keep the barbecue hot.
By Manya Koetse , with contributions by Miranda Barnes
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