https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/indoor-fishing-and-chanting-battles-how-chinas-quarantined-millions-are-keeping-busy/ar-BBZonme?ocid=spartandhpIndoor fishing and chanting battles: how China's quarantined millions are keeping busy
Michael Standaert in Sichuan
Whether locked down in quarantined cities in the outbreak zone of Hubei or isolating themselves at home across the country to lessen the chance of coronavirus infection, Chinese people have been coming up with creative ways to keep boredom at bay.
The nation’s social media sites are abuzz with innovative ways to keep spirits up, from impromptu lion dances – using plastic stools for the head and blankets for the costume – to chanting battles between high-rise residential blocks, indoor quoits and fishing in fish tanks.
There has also been speculation that November could see a spike in births
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For many of the millions stuck at home, a big issue is simply how to keep warm. Very few homes in Hubei – or in southern China – have central heating.
China has confirmed human-to-human transmission of a new SARS-like coronavirus linked to the Wuhan pneumonia outbreak as the number of cases soared to more than 400 people in China, and the World Health Organization said it would consider declaring an international public health emergency. Countries both in the Asia-Pacific and elsewhere have initiated body temperature checks at airports, railway stations and along highways in hopes of catching those at risk of carrying a new virus.
So, families huddle around gas and electric heaters, often placed below a table with a blanket draped over, to warm their hands and feet while eating, chatting or playing cards on top, or escape to beds piled in covers or with an electric blanket. Daytime highs around reach 10C and temperatures dip below zero at night.
Wang Jianping, 42, who was spending the new year holiday in a Hubei village just a kilometre from the border with the Hunan province city of Yueyang, told the Guardian that he and his family were sleeping and staying in bed most of the time. Wang said the border has been blocked and cars and motorcycles can’t get through so there’s not very far they can go.
“If we go out at all we mainly chat with close neighbours and remember funny times from our childhood days,” he said. “Before it got serious many people were sitting together playing mahjong but now nobody wants to do it.”
One issue that has popped up for many parents with children is how to effectively explain why they need to stay inside, wear masks, and wash hands so frequently. Where there is a need and a gap, creative measures often arise to fill them.
One writer has already whipped up a children’s book called “Why can’t I go out?”.
The story, which advises how to explain to children the need to stay inside and the risks of the virus without scaring them, has been viewed 870,000 times since 26 January when it was released on the Chinese social media platform, Weibo.