As is tradition, hundreds of people gathered in front of the old Hankow Customs building, one of the most popular spots on New Year’s Eve in the city. When the building’s old clock arrived at midnight, many people threw balloons into the air, applauded and shouted “Happy New Year”.
“I am so incredibly happy,” said student and tourist Yang Wenxuan, 20. “This is my first time in Wuhan. But (the countdown) it was so spectacular.”
“I hope I can get my bachelor’s degree and find a boyfriend,” added Yang.
The festivities took place 12 months after the World Health Organization (WHO) said it first received news of cases of pneumonia of unknown cause in Wuhan, which later became known as the first worldwide outbreak in Covid-19.
A team of WHO experts is due to arrive in China in January 2021 to investigate the origins of the pandemic.
Wuhan has been virtually virus-free for months and, in recent days, has vaccinated some specific groups of the local population. But a small recent increase in cases in several Chinese cities, including Beijing, reminded people in Wuhan that the pandemic is not over yet.
“I hope that in 2021 everything will go well in the country and that Wuhan can return to normal and that the world can soon defeat the pandemic,” said Wuhan resident Anson Yang.
The 25-year-old businessman, who works in the international trade sector, said his earnings were hard hit in 2020 and he knows many companies in Wuhan that have not yet returned to normal levels of trade.
Several students were looking forward to the end of the pandemic so they could continue their studies in person. One college student, however, learned some positive lessons from the fight against the pandemic.
“If we look at the measures that people took, the things that people did as part of controlling the epidemic and so on, a human or friendly touch, something that we would not normally see, was felt by everyone,” said the young man from 21 years old Chen Mengfan.