The author of this article: Mangosteen
Ruili City, Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, is located in the southwestern border of the motherland, with a border line of 169.8 kilometers and bordering North Myanmar on three sides. Borderers live across borders and are under unimaginable input pressure from inland provinces and cities.
With the outbreak of the epidemic in Myanmar, Ruili is at the forefront of fighting the epidemic. Up to now, Ruili has confirmed hundreds of cases, all caused by imports from outside Myanmar.
In order to hold the last line of defense of the country, Ruili has experienced a total of 9 city closures, and the city has been locked down for a total of 160 days. It is strictly forbidden to enter and exit the villages in Dabian, and many villagers have stayed at home for more than a year.
The small town has exhausted everything, and so far none of the cases have spread to other provinces.
No Man’s Land overnight
Jiegao, a border trade and economic zone of 1.92 square kilometers, 4 kilometers southeast of Ruili City. One end is connected to the urban area through the Jiegao Bridge, and the other end directly borders the town of Muse in Myanmar.
In 1991, the Yunnan Provincial Government approved the construction of a large China-Myanmar Trade Street at the China’s No. 81 to No. 82 boundary markers. In and out from here.
Jie Gao directly borders Myanmar
Source: Baidu Map
Countless people come here to travel and do jewelry business. Chu Guanlin is from the Northeast. After graduating in 2013, he moved to Beijing and Shenzhen successively, and finally came to Ruili to reunite with his family who ran the jade business.
Before the pandemic, he worked in a duty-free shop in the Jiegao border trade zone.
He described to us the bustling and bustling Jiegao District, with ethnic shops on both sides of the street, Burmese and Ruili people come here to set up stalls, selling fresh vegetables and fruits, daily necessities and ethnic handicrafts, There is a sense of gathering of thousands of businessmen.
Sister’s report before the epidemic
Sister told Jade Market
“I have lived here for nearly ten years, and I am more and more in love with this land and its warm and simple people.” But what he did not expect was that on March 30, 2021 On the day, all the good things are like a dream bubble, and suddenly disappeared from the life of the elder sister.
That day, Chu Guanlin got off work as usual, walked a few hundred meters from the store, and before he got to the Jiejiao Bridge, he saw some vendors gathered at the bridge.
There was no notification, no documents issued, only the epidemic prevention staff standing at the bridge blocked their way, telling them that they had to wait for the medical staff to come to do nucleic acid testing. At first, everyone thought it was just a daily nucleic acid task.
My sister was suddenly banned
After all, the residents of this small border town have long been accustomed to daily inspections, and everyone has done hundreds of nucleic acid tests. After the nucleic acid is done early, we can go home early, and everyone lined up to squeeze forward without any safe distance.
After Xiao Chu finished the nucleic acid, he waited for dark from the evening, but did not wait for the release, but waited for the notification of in-situ isolation. “It’s too sudden. Many people just come to set up a food stall or buy something. No one will go out with quilts and toiletries. No one knows how long it will take if they say they are positive.”
During the quarantine period, staff will be on duty on the bridge 24 hours a day, and civil servants will be on duty in each area, and everyone is not allowed to sneak out. Nucleic acid needs to be done every 3 days, but the management is chaotic, and missed inspections occur from time to time.
Three days, seven days, fourteen days, one month, the time passed, and the days and nights of my sister’s report seemed to be isolated from the world.
Xiao Chu is very lucky that the company has dormitories and stockpiles, so he can sleep on the bed.
“In the early days, the government’s material procurement has not kept up. A box of vegetables delivered every ten days and a half months is definitely not enough for so many people. We will secretly take advantage of the nucleic acid production. When shopping at a nearby convenience store, a gap is left in the shutter door of the convenience store. Civil servants will see it and sometimes turn a blind eye when they say good things, because he also wants to buy something.”
What’s more difficult is that there is nowhere to put it, and many people start out by sleeping on the street.
The driver of the truck transporting supplies has slept in the car for more than a month. Every morning, when queuing up to make nucleic acid, Xiao Chu walked quickly when he saw the change of clothes placed on the tree by the driver of the roadside truck, the simple tent that was too late to put away, and the cooking pot made of bricks and wood. I can’t bear it.”
Truck driver puts supplies under the shutter
On May 4th, the closure was finally lifted, and the quarantined people rushed to the intersection on electric bikes and tricycles, with a long-lost look on their faces.
Lying on her own bed, Xiao Chu gradually escaped from the extreme excitement when she first arrived home, and became uncontrollably sad.
In the memorandum, he wrote this sentence: “Since I was stranded for 36 days, I was finally released, and my sister will become a shadow in my life. Goodbye, my sister. .”
Coincidentally, just two months later, Jie Jiao suddenly issued a local quarantine notice again. Lucky little Chu escaped this time. Once again, the dozens of days of closure of the city were ended. Sister told me that August had reached the unbearable heat, and the people of Ruili had also waited for the strictest order.
First, the government issued an order that everyone must leave Jiejiao immediately. After 14 days of quarantine in the prefab housing provided by the government, they should go to the city to find relatives and friends or rent a house to solve the problem of food and accommodation. At that time, the epidemic situation in Myanmar was severe, which seriously polluted the air and river environment of Jijiao, and carried out a killing work for several months.
Overnight, my sister became a “no man’s land”, and only a very small number of people, such as security guards and killing personnel, had to stay here.
Do it all
In the beginning, everyone held out hope that they could wait for the town to revive. After a long time, the policy of layer-by-layer overweight has discouraged the people of Ruili.
Since January 26, 2020, Ruili has experienced 9 lockdowns, the longest being 35 days. The urban area was closed for 160 days, and in the border villages, each village entrance was strictly prohibited from entering and leaving, and there were many people who did not go out for 2 to 300 days.
The time record of the residents of Ruili City in lockdown
Grid member Wu Weiqiu, who was admitted to the civil service two years ago, has not been in the office for almost a day. When the epidemic was not too serious, Wu Weiqiu stayed at the checkpoint to supervise scanning the code, punching the card to measure the temperature, collecting the information of each household and reporting it to the superior to check and implement the nucleic acid situation.
During the lockdown period, in addition to the above routine tasks, Wu Weiqiu was also responsible for purchasing and distributing supplies, and even feeding pigs and chickens and harvesting rice to farmers at home.
Most of the villages Wu Weiqiu guards are farmers, who mainly make a living by growing rice, fruit and tobacco. In September and October last year, it was the autumn harvest. The whole city of Ruili was at home, and only these young public officials were able to work in the fields.
Daonan B, who works as a grid worker in the urban area, although he does not need to do farm work, is often on the verge of collapse due to frequent policy changes and unclear implementation issues, resulting in conflicts with residents.
According to the latest version of the policy on April 13, residents in the prevention area do not need to be quarantined at their own expense and can leave Switzerland after staying home. But there are many problems in its implementation.
“There are some questions that we can’t answer. At the beginning, it was said that only one person living in can be quarantined at home. If there are three people in the family, one of them leaves Switzerland, or he is alone. Go to the prefabricated room for isolation, or the other two go to live outside. Now it is said that one person leaves Switzerland, and the other two must be isolated at home to do nucleic acid together. They are not allowed to go out for 7 days, and a siren is installed at the door, which will sound when the door is opened. ”
Free prefab house in poor isolation conditions
Kao Nan B is used to the labor of words brought about by policy uncertainty, but some important processes are vaguely written, which will directly lead to confusion in grass-roots implementation.
“Residents need antigen self-tests on the first and sixth days, and on the seventh day, they need to contact the agency for home sampling. It is not clear where to buy reagents and who to contact.” Dao Nan B Tell Lilac Garden that after the resident’s quarantine period expires, she still needs to pick her up in person and supervise point-to-point to the expressway intersection.
In order to ensure that smugglers are not harboured and the inspection is not missed, Dao Nan B also checks at residents’ homes from time to time, opening the doors of each room to confirm the number of people. “Look through the toilets, wardrobes, and even under the table. I am responsible for what people in this building do every day and where they go, and I must be clear.”
Exhausted grid workers met residents who stayed at home and did nucleic acid for hundreds of times and still couldn’t move, and there was too much friction that should not have been there.
On the other hand, local medical pressure in Ruili has also existed for a long time. Ruili City People’s Hospital and Jincheng Hospital are relatively large secondary hospitals in the area, and there are a few maternity and child health hospitals and rural clinics in the rest.
Because confirmed cases in surrounding counties will also be sent to Ruili for treatment, many medical staff are infected on the front line. Although Ruili has a small population density, the hospital is still under certain pressure.
“Now everyone is afraid to go to the hospital. They endure minor illnesses and go to the hospital only if they can’t bear serious illnesses.” Su Di’s mother works in Longchuan County Hospital. For more serious diseases, people from Ruili cannot go to other places for medical treatment.
“When the front was strictly controlled, the ambulance did not go out to the highway intersection. There have also been cases of miscarriage and severe delays in treatment of pregnant women.”
Students attending school is also a long-standing problem. Chen Yi is a senior high school teacher who has lived and ate with the students in the classroom for a whole year.
“Primary school students have been taking online classes for nearly three years. The first and second grades of junior high school have recently moved to a vocational middle school in Linxian County. As for the third and third grades of junior high school, they are almost closed on campus. I managed it for a year. The dormitories were not enough, so I changed the classrooms and built some prefabricated houses to make ends meet.”
There is also a special feature in the prevention and control of border counties. People are required to guard the border line 24 hours a day to strictly prevent smugglers from entering. There are more than 500 border control points and 36 ferries in Ruili, and the police and villagers have to walk at least ten miles every day to patrol and be on duty.
After Sister Gao was lifted for the second time, tens of thousands of Burmese nationals were persuaded by the government to return. According to the statistics of Ruili City Government, there are 35,470 foreigners outside Myanmar, accounting for one-seventh of the population of Ruili.
Relevant staff announced the “List of Myanmar Nationals Voluntarily Returning to Myanmar” on WeChat, and issued a 60-second voice with helplessness and sincerity: “Because we, China, It is impossible to resume work and production in 2018. The bridge is closed and managed. Even if you don’t eat or drink, you must have 20,000 RMB. If you don’t have that much money, leave China from the big country gate.”< /p>
Frequent investigation and punishment added to the serious atmosphere of the small town. On March 30 alone, the Wanding government investigated and exposed 18 villagers who violated the epidemic regulations. Most of these people were punished for gathering at the entrance of the village to chat, play cards, and go out without permission.
Residents must wear N95 masks when entering and exiting supermarkets, government offices and other places with high population density. Those who do not wear masks or wear masks in an irregular manner will be fined less than 200 yuan, and those who do not cooperate may be detained.
Up to now, the small town has exhausted everything, and so far not a single case has spread to other provinces.
But for the people of Ruili, the old life is gone too. “Civil servants act as security guards, feed pigs and harvest rice. Doctors and residents skillfully cooperate in nucleic acid preparation at the entrance of the village every day. Teachers and students sleep in classrooms, as if we have always lived like this.”
Life in silence
Ruili is the county and city with the best economic development level in Dehong Prefecture, with a GDP of 16.702 billion yuan in 2020, accounting for 29.02% of Dehong Prefecture.
Dehong is not only an important economic town, but also the only county and city that is not included in the list of national-level poverty-stricken counties in the contiguous extreme poverty-stricken areas in the border areas of western Yunnan. Its per capita GDP is even higher than the average of Yunnan Province.
On March 8 this year, the General Office of the Yunnan Provincial People’s Government issued a notice requiring port cities like Ruili with high risks of overseas importation to “exchange strict control of the buffer zone for the entire province A safe environment for economic and social development.”
Source: Yunnan Provincial People’s Government Network
Rui Li did exactly that. In order to protect the country, the people of Ruili lived in “exchange”.
In the three years since the epidemic, the resident population of Ruili has decreased from 500,000 to more than 100,000.
Xuanyi’s most obvious feeling is that the number of people doing nucleic acid in the community has changed from more than 3,000 to only 800. Originally, they queued up from morning to night to do nucleic acid, but now they stop working every day at most two hours. .
Population resettlement is part of it.
Most of the cases in Ruili occurred in Dabian villages. Last year, the city government delineated a buffer zone for epidemic prevention and control within a range of 50 to 200 meters from the border of the village, and sent residents in the buffer zone to the border. transfer. Many people brought their families to settle here at first, and then moved away.
There are also businessmen who left earlier. Affected by the repeated epidemics, Ruili’s tourism industry continued to decline sharply, with a year-on-year decrease of nearly 60%, and the total tourism revenue in 2020 also dropped by two-thirds.
The loss of personnel in the jewelry industry, which relies on the development of tourism, is even more serious. More than 20 existing professional jewelry and jade markets have been closed. The registered 8,251 jewelry business households and 17,000 employees have lost their Difficulty leaving most of the time.
There are several jade market stalls in Jiejiao District. Xuanyi usually comes to Yucheng Market at 8:00 every morning to set up a market.The stall, the monthly running water can be 300,000 to 400,000 yuan.
A few years ago, the fire of live streaming in the Mainland also spread to Jijiao, thousands of kilometers away. Every night at 7 or 8 o’clock, the anchors hired by Xuan Yi came to bring goods all night. One night of passion can earn her several months of profits from the physical store operation.
Now, the sister-in-law has been emptied, she cannot set up a stall, and there is no anchor to help bring the goods. Xuanyi’s family of four can barely survive on the income of the brick-and-mortar store.
Once crowded stalls are now empty
“Outsiders can’t come in, so they all come from their peers to buy goods, and the price will be lower than usual. The income is only 10,000 yuan, and the rent of the shop has to be paid.”
The store is deserted. In order to pass the time, Xuan Yi has read 13 books in the store this year.
Xiao Chu’s company has grown from more than 30 people to only 2 employees who still stay in Ruili. Seven or eight people went to the company’s new branch in Guangzhou, and most of them chose to leave Ruili and go to the provincial capital Kunming to find new opportunities.
The reason why Xiao Chu stayed here is to transport the goods and try to recover the losses for the company.
In September 2020, Xiaochu Company paid a one-time rent of 300,000 yuan for two years, which was almost in vain. But compared to this, the company cares more about the goods left in the sister-in-law. Most of the products sold in the store are cosmetics, and the total purchase price of all goods is about 56 million. In addition, there are various imported wines.
At the end of October last year, things seemed to turn around.
Jiejiao Investment Promotion and Cooperation Office and the Jiejiao Border Trade Management Committee suggested that the goods from a third country in Jiegao District should be transferred to the warehouse.
The government promises to build another duty-free shop warehouse near the customs in Ruili City, so that Xiaochu and other shops will first transfer the goods to the Limin Cross-border E-commerce Industrial Park, and then arrange for customs officers to dispatch them as soon as possible. goods.
Jiegao District Cargo Transfer Process
You need to rent a warehouse at your own expense. Xiaochu’s company does not plan to continue operating in Ruili, so he only spent 24,000 yuan to rent a small warehouse for turnover. Since I signed the contract in November last year, I thought I could send the goods out immediately, but after half a year, I didn’t move.
Warehouse lease contract
Xiao Chu has yet to wait for someone to help him deal with it, and he is anxious about this avoidable loss.
“We can’t predict the epidemic, but we can find a way to get the goods stuck in Jiegao. If we don’t deal with it this year, it is estimated that 2/3 of the goods will be lost. It is a waste and a pity if it expires.”
Sudi, in nearby Longchuan County, runs a small restaurant that sells all kinds of Yunnan specialties. The small shop of more than ten square meters has 8 small tables, and the business is booming, and it can be full at noon and evening.
The outbreak of the epidemic, the government notified all the shops along the street to suspend business, and Sudi’s snack bar cannot do dine-in or take-out. After the resumption of takeaway, the inability to purchase independently is another problem, and the turnover is almost 1/3 of the original.
In addition, the movie theater where Sudi worked for more than five years has closed down, and many swimming pools, gyms, Internet cafes, and massage shops have long been empty.
This border town, which has made a fortune from the jade industry and tourism, has fallen into silence as businessmen, migrant workers and Burmese people from all over the world have left.
The distressed city screams: I can’t stay if I want to stay, I can’t go if I want to go
In addition to doing business, there are also people who come here to work. Zhang Gensheng is a truck driver and his wife is a dishwasher at a nearby snack bar, both from Sichuan. The family of five has been at home in Wanding for more than 200 days without any source of income.
Last year, I received a living allowance of 1,000 yuan from the government for needy households. This year, I just issued 150 yuan of material coupons, but this amount of money is only enough for a whole family of food for a month. I saved it earlier. Some of the savings are coming to an end.
Zhang Gensheng wanted to go to Kunming to make a living, but he couldn’t afford the high cost of isolation.
Self-funded isolation for 7 days, about 1,500 yuan per person, and double inspection and double inspection every day. Zhang Gensheng’s family has to spend tens of thousands of yuan, which is the income of the whole family for a whole year. When he arrived at his destination, Zhang Gensheng, who was given a yellow code, still had to pay for isolation.
In March, Wanding Middle School was thrown by unidentified stones. The town issued a notice saying that overseas personnel frequently threw steel balls and objects into the country recently. The meaning is unclear. Because of the fear of increasing the risk of the spread of the epidemic, the heartstrings of the people in Ruili were tense again. tight.
Soon, the Wanding government recruited stranded people with no fixed income for public welfare jobs, assisted in epidemic prevention work, and arrested smugglers. Once hired, you can get a subsidy of 1,000 yuan/person/month.
Zhang Gensheng has signed up and has not yet received a notification. “There’s no other way. It’s best to wait until the policy is loosened. It will take another half a year at most. It’s really not good. You have to go out to borrow money.” Zhang Gensheng planned.
“Over and over again, everyone went away. The rest of the people, imaginable and unimaginable suffering, everyone has eaten, but they are used to swallowing it by themselves. In the stomach.” Zhang Gensheng mentioned the obedience of Ruili people and choked several times on the other end of the phone.
Many people don’t know that in the far southwest frontier of the motherland, the ordinary life of the people of the small towns is gone. There are 25 border counties and cities in Yunnan that also adhere to epidemic prevention and safety. Across the country, there are a total of 136.
When the compatriots who have been silently insisting on guarding the country call for help, they need more tangible assistance than flowers and applause. (planner: beatrice; producer: gyouza)
Note: All names of the characters in this article are pseudonyms, and all photos are provided by the characters in the article.
Image source: Visual China