Entering the first weeks of 2023, Chinese society seems to be rapidly restoring its vigor and vitality. Crowds are everywhere, whether in shopping malls, restaurants or theme parks. As the Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival, approaches, the annual travel rush is expected to be made up of roughly 2.1 billion passenger trips, reaching 70 percent of the 2019 levels.
But at the same time, hospitals across the country are still operating at full capacity and funeral parlors, especially those in the northern regions that are in the midst of the cold winter, have had to reduce the time and scale of each funeral due to the obvious increase in the number of deaths. These are a reminder that the pandemic is not over.
All of this is occurring in the country with the third largest land area in the world and a population of more than 1.4 billion. The sorrows and joys of each township and each family vary greatly. To understand the real situation, one needs
