New year, deja-vu - 2nd February 2022

Scores of travellers are flooding train stations across China anxious to travel home for the important Lunar New Year festivities to see family that Covid-19 has prevented them from meeting for almost two years.

Shao: "Naturally we're a little worried, but we did some research and I know we're not in the mid-high risk area, so we really hope to be able to go home and be with our family. "

Despite the easing of travel restrictions to and from Shanghai, other regions across China have come under severe lockdown measures. Xi'an city, in the West of China, was under strict lockdown in early January, with a ban even on going out to purchase food.

Although journeys may be permitted in some regions, travellers still face rigid testing regulations. School teacher Chen is off to her parents for a mere five days.

Chen: "24 hours before leaving Shanghai, I need to do a Covid test. After arriving home, I need to do a test within 24 hours. And there are new rules this year that 48 hours before coming back to Shanghai I need to do a test. Then after arriving in Shanghai, another test. Then, another test within 48 hours of returning to work. So, even though I'm going home for only five days, I need to do five Covid tests. "

As the Winter Olympics kick off in China, coinciding with the holiday period, authorities are pulling out all the stops to safeguard against any possible outbreaks that could jeopardise the games. Nevertheless, officials and scientists in the country are seeking less stringent measures given the high vaccination rate, of nearly 85 percent, and the endemic presence of the virus.

But given that the Lunar New Year is a major festival in China and most Southeast Asian nations, scenes of stations teeming with nervous travellers eager to get home will be a recurrent image across the region.