Sars: Beijing a ghost town
2003-04-27 12:40
Beijing - With a bright sky and a warm sun shining, it would seem the kind of day when Beijing's residents come out in force to enjoy spring, but this Sunday Sars had turned the city into a ghost town.
Deserted streets and empty plazas reflected the awful fact that of all the people who are reported to have succumbed to severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) worldwide, one in six have died in Beijing.
The portrait of Mao Zedong at the entrance of the Forbidden City was staring at the scattered clusters of people visiting the usually crowded Tiananmen Square.
At the Wangfujing shopping district, a bus taking tourists on short trips to major sites in the neighbourhood was sitting idly at the side of the road, as a tour guide used a megaphone to entice non-existing crowds.
"We'll drive even if we get just one or two passengers," said the tour guide, surnamed Wang. "But we haven't had a single one so far."
With a death toll that has now reached 48, Beijing has decided for unusually tough measures designed to curb Sars, but that could have the potential to inflict severe damage on the city's economy.
Cinemas, Internet cafes and karaoke bars have been closed down, and will not reopen until officials feel they have the epidemic under control.
Public libraries have also been closed for the time being, and marriage registrations have been halted to prevent large-scale wedding gatherings.
As the city of 13 million grinds to a halt, thousands find themselves with little or no work, and for many it could be more than a temporary problem.
Tan Ping, a taxi driver for little more than a year, is no longer making any money, but expects to lose 2 000 yuan (US$240) this month.
"If this goes on for another month, I'll have to get rid of my taxi and find some other way to make a living," he said.
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At the Oriental Plaza, one of the city's largest malls, visitors could be counted on one hand, while shop assistants stood looking bored behind their surgical masks.
With little else to do, maintaining hygiene had now become the top priority, according to the manager of a tea shop inside the mall.
"We disinfect the shop every hour or so," said the manager, who gave her surname as Zhou. "When we've had a customer, we make sure to disinfect everything he's touched," she said.
One of the only places in Beijing where crowds were still forming was near the main railway station, as hundreds tried to escape the city.
A 19-year-old restaurant worker and her two friends went to the station early in the morning to get a ticket home in central Henan province.
Shortly before noon, they had to leave the station, after finding that all tickets had been sold out.
"We've quit our jobs," said the worker, surnamed Yang. "Our boss didn't mind, since he had to close down his restaurant temporarily a week ago, after the customers stopped coming."