Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register BEIJING/SHANGHAI, Aug 7 (Reuters) – When Chinese businesswoman Yang Jing was planning this year’s 2021 summer vacation, she chose the tropical southern island of Hainan because of its near-perfect track record for COVID. The South China Sea island recorded just two positive symptomatic cases of COVID-19 in the entire past year. Fast forward to this month, however, and the number of cases has suddenly skyrocketed, prompting a lockdown in the city of Sanya and leaving tens of thousands of tourists like Yang stranded on the island. Sanya, the island’s main tourist hub, imposed a lockdown on Saturday and limited transport links to try to contain the outbreak, even though about 80,000 visitors enjoyed its beaches during peak season. Many are now stuck inside hotels until next Saturday, if not longer. read more Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Yang, along with her husband and child, stay in a four-star hotel paid for out of pocket. The family eats noodles every day to avoid spending more on food. “This is the worst vacation of my life,” Yang, who is in her 40s and lives in southern China’s Jiangxi province, told Reuters on Sunday. Sanya reported 689 symptomatic and 282 asymptomatic cases between August 1 and 7. Other cities around Hainan province, including Danzhou, Dongfan, Lingshui and Lingao, have all reported more than a dozen cases over the same period. On Saturday, the sale of train tickets from Sanya was suspended, state broadcaster CCTV reported, citing the national operator, and more than 80% of flights to and from Sanya had been cancelled, according to data provider Variflight. Hainan has been closed to foreign tourists for the past two and a half years since China, in response to the pandemic, stopped issuing tourist visas and implemented strict quarantine rules. The Sanya government announced on Saturday that tourists whose flights were canceled will be able to book half-price hotel rooms. However, dozens of tourists on Sunday complained in WeChat groups that their hotels were not enforcing such a rule and were still paying prices similar to the original prices. Two stranded tourists told Reuters they were in such a situation. “We are now looking for ways to complain and defend our rights, but so far no official body has contacted us or taken an interest in us,” said one of the tourists, a woman from east China’s Jiangsu Province, who she only gave her last name as Zhou.
IT’S NEVER COMING BACK
A foreign tourist living in China who was on his honeymoon in Sanya said additional issues for stranded tourists included massive price hikes in food delivery fees, hotel meal prices, as well as airfare from Hainan. Food supplies at his hotel were also running low, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “We just hope it doesn’t turn into another Shanghai,” the tourist said, referring to that city’s recent draconian two-month lockdown. The outbreak in Hainan is the latest challenge to China’s zero-covid-19 policy, after a chaotic lockdown in Shanghai dented Beijing’s narrative that its handling of the pandemic was superior to other countries such as the United States, which have recorded over a million deaths from COVID. Domestic visitors have kept the tourism industry alive in Hainan for much of the pandemic, but this sudden lockdown risks driving some tourists away for good. “In short, we will never go back!” said Zhou, who was on vacation with six other family members. Sanya authorities said stranded tourists can leave the island from next Saturday, provided they have taken five tests for COVID and received negative results for all of them. However, Yang said waiting times for test results were long, causing her to take multiple tests a day. “We don’t know who to go to, the Internet only has positive news about Sanya, such as… the Sanya municipal government has properly resettled the 80,000 stranded tourists… as if the whole country believes that (we) are not victims , but beneficiaries”, he said. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Reporting by Martin Quin Pollard and Eduardo Baptista. Editor: Susan Fenton Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.