The narrow alleyways of Haizhu district have long beckoned to China’s strivers, people such as Xie Pan, a textile worker from a mountainous tea-growing area in central China.
Home to one of the country’s biggest fabric markets, Haizhu houses worker dormitories and textile factories in brightly colored buildings stacked so close that neighbors can shake hands out their windows. Once a smattering of rural villages, the area became a manufacturing hub as China opened its economy decades ago. The government had promised to step back and let people unleash their ambitions, and millions flocked to Haizhu to do just that.
Several weeks later, Haizhu exploded in discontent. After a weekend of protests against “zero COVID” restrictions across the country, hundreds of workers defied lockdown rules and swarmed Haizhu’s streets Tuesday, demanding freedom. They tore down street barricades and threw glass bottles. “End the lockdown!” they shouted as police officers in hazmat suits marched through the alleys, banging clubs against their shields.
Already, China’s security apparatus is moving to suppress the demonstrations against “zero COVID,” the most widespread protests China has seen since Tiananmen. Police have detained and threatened participants across the country. The government, while not publicly acknowledging the protests, has also tried to blunt public outrage by easing restrictions, including lifting some lockdowns in Guangzhou.
Xie moved to Guangzhou last year, chasing higher pay to support his two young children. But when he arrived, he found a different hustle than expected. The morning he was released, he boarded a train back to Hubei. “I’ve been out of work for so long, I’m about to go hungry,” Xie said when reached at home. It’s not just in factories that upward mobility seems increasingly out of reach. The same is true in the region’s skyscrapers, once the gleaming proofs of dreams achieved.
Liu was now focused on paying off his mortgage and building his savings. “The next few years,” he said, “will also be pretty hard.”The sound of construction began immediately after officials detected a lone case of COVID-19 in Xiasha, a dense Shenzhen neighborhood known for its cheap eats and affordable housing.
Officials even entered apartments in Xiasha, checking closets and under beds for people with COVID-19 who might have been trying to avoid detection. But the security apparatus has grown only stronger from the past three years of controls. It is also not clear how many of the protesters share the demands or the aspiration for more political freedom; the angry workers in Guangzhou were focused on the basic right to work and move freely. If China manages to limit the impact of future outbreaks as it loosens restrictions, the sense of shared grievance could sputter.
But last spring’s lockdown in Shanghai cut off orders from a major client there. Then came the Guangzhou outbreak. Factories in Haizhu were ordered to close. Li tested positive and was sent to a makeshift hospital.
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