Story & photos by Bernard Joseph Esposo Guerrero
Let’s face it, China is one of the few countries that truly has a lot of things to boast—their unique culture stands out, their landscapes are unparalleled, and their history does not fail to impress.
The first time I was on the mainland was in 2014 when I was in Shanghai for a two-week assignment. I also managed then to explore the cities of Suzhou and Hangzhou. These two millenarian cities are so captivating that there is in fact an old Chinese saying ascribed to them, “In heaven there is paradise, on Earth there is Suzhou and Hangzhou.”
Suzhou, a city on water, kept me fascinated with its classical Chinese gardens, the oldest there are in the world. Hangzhou, on the other hand, made me fall in love with its West Lake, “the world’s most beautiful” according to Marco Polo. I had nothing but memorable experiences, and I have long been looking forward to going back. That return was supposed to take place this year, this month.
I booked for an 11-day trip to Southern China last October, where the idea was we would spend my mom’s 61st birthday in that often-overlooked region of the country. Yes, there is no Great Wall there, but my carefully crafted itinerary was no less than top-notch—we arrive in Xiamen, journey into the deeper parts of the province to see the enigmatic Fujian tolous, and even spend a single night in one of the old round mud-buildings, cross the waters to see the multicultural island of Kulangsu back in the city, fly to Guilin to take the picturesque Li river cruise down to Yangshuo, where we were to stay for a few days enjoying the most beautiful karst landscape in the world, transfer to Guangzhou to see its cultural sites and sample genuine Cantonese food, drive down to Kaiping to explore its exquisite tower-houses called “diaolous” and even stay in one, and then exit via Macau. The finer details were also far from being mediocre.
Everything had been settled from hotel bookings, to ground transportation and flight arrangements, ferry and boat reservations, to special dinner schedules. In the first two weeks of January, we only wished that time flew faster, so that it would already be February 2, the day we would commence the trip. Then, suddenly, the novel coronavirus happened. It could not be contained, and it was spreading to other parts of China faster than expected.
Initially, the outbreak was only observed in Wuhan, a city hundreds of miles from where we were going. We thought that following simple precautionary steps would be enough, and that we would still be safe throughout the trip. However, a week into our travel, the Chinese government took more containment measures as the virus was steadily spreading to more areas, even abroad. I reached out to my Filipino friends working north of Guilin and they said that while going around was still permitted, they, nevertheless, had to be extra careful. One of them even cried out his frustration over the extent of fake news circulation, saying that, “It is not helping, it is making our families panic more.” My contacts in our hotels also reassured that the areas we were going to were, at that time, still not affected.
My mom and I went through several discussions, day after day, whether we should push through or not. And every time we did, we always agreed that we would still proceed. We did not want to be careless and susceptible, however, so we doubled our intake of vitamin C and purchased enough N95 masks to last throughout the trip—at P150 per piece, the price was ridiculous. We even sought to get flu vaccines for added protection, but to my frustration, there was no drugstore in my province that had it, and even the major hospitals did not have one available. After three days of searching, we luckily found one barangay DOH clinic that had some vials. Our preparations only made me realize how we Filipinos are, overall, not prepared.
Just when we thought we were already better equipped to enter China, I received an e-mail six hours later from our hotel accommodation regretfully relaying that he had to cancel our booking and that we might want to reconsider pushing through with the trip. I again e-mailed the other hotels and asked how the situation was and they said that most tourist destinations were already being closed, and that streets were becoming empty. My contact in Guangzhou even said that even if we went ahead, there would no longer be anything to do and the chances of being trapped eventually was high. It did not take me long then to process the information and interpreted them as the sign I was waiting for.
For the longest time, cancelling the trip was unthinkable, then the next minute we firmly decided against proceeding. It was not just about contracting the virus that had become scary. It was also what could happen while we were there, being unable to come back home and possibly being caught in a situation that could become far worse than imagined. True enough, the day after, more flights were canceled, and more travel bans were imposed. Quarantines being put in place, though necessary, do not look so convenient either. It has become not only a health issue, but also a logistical one.
If there was any consolation, however, Cebu Pacific and Xiamen Airlines gladly refunded our tickets, and so did the hotels we booked. The process was easier than I thought, having had experienced being denied of refunds in the past. While we still incurred some loss from other reservations made, it was a small price to pay for our safety and peace of mind. After all, prevention is still a lot better than cure. Meanwhile, I can only dream again of going back to China on a better occasion and hope that this crisis will soon be over.
Image credits: Bernard Joseph Esposo Guerrero