#shanghai is a place where you can sample the best global cuisine. My social media used to be filled with friends boasting the best Sichuan hotpot to Michelin star French dining. Today in China’s wealthiest city this is what food postings look like. Here is my food diary:
#lockdown Day 2 #food diary: frozen shrimp, German sausages, frozen and wontons. Price = free. First district government handout because it is near impossible to get any individual food deliveries 
#lockdown Day 4 diary: 1 cabbage, 3 mini baby Napa cabbage, 3 potatoes, 2 turnip/daikon, 2 carrots, 1 marrow (in the zucchini family), bag of frozen chicken drumettes. First fresh veggies we’ve for our hands on. Price = free. Second gov handout.
#lockdown Day 6 diary: Been waking up before 6 a.m. cycling through dozens of e-commerce apps without luck for food basics. Found a back channel for bottled water and “essentials” like beer, instant noodles and ice cream bars = 450 yuan ($70) normal price
#lockdown Day 6 diary: box set from an import market. Seems to be the only thing we can purchase these days. All we wanted from this box was the eggs and about 3Lbs of meat. Price = $70
#lockdown Day 13 diary: a friend kindly sent over a box of apples because we still can’t order from the usual e-commerce platforms. These must be sold by the box to make it worthwhile for the limited number of delivery drivers out here. Price = 20 apples for 200 yuan. $1.50 each
#lockdown Day 13 diary: finally found my community WeChat group buy chat. It’s the only thing that seems to work. 1 order of eggs = 60. Price = 80 yuan ($12.50). More than double the usual price per egg
#Lockdown Day 10 #Shanghai diary: rice 🙌, 1 pack of egg noodles, bunch of rapid lateral tests, face masks, Chinese medicine to treat COVID. 3rd government handout for me. None so far for my colleague in a different district. Price = free
#lockdown Day 13: Bulk buying group score - cooking oil 🙌 First time buying by the gallon. I traded two cups of this for 1 cappuccino with a neighbor. Price = 80 yuan ($12)
#Lockdown Day 14: community group buy - handmade buns. I can usually get these on the street for $0.30 each. Now it’s 3x the price. 20 pork and preserved veg buns. Price = $18.70
#lockdown Day 14: 3 potatoes, 3 mini cucumbers, 1 carrot, 1 marrow, handful of bok choy, cured Chinese sausages, dried Chinese mushroom, ear fungus, 1 whole mini chicken, 2 chunks of fatty pork, 4 oranges. Price = free. gov handout no. 4
#lockdown Day 14: (for some reason everything came through at once this day) Beef shank and beef brisket. 8.8lbs via a meat contact. Price = 460 yuan ($71)
#lockdown Day 15: meat buns, pork belly, 1 bag of meatballs (spoiled because there was a cut in the package), 1 cauliflower, 3 tomatoes. Price = free from a different city gov department
#lockdown Day 16: 2 cucumbers, 2 marrow, 4 green peppers, 4 potatoes, ginger; garlic; pork bones; 2 chicken thighs, 2 packs of mushrooms, 2 Turnips, 1 bottle of fresh milk, 1 box of UHT milk, 2 bags of fresh egg noodles, 1 bag of salt. Price = free. Government handout no 5.
#lockdown Day 17: we’ve gone from too few to too many vegetables. It might be a good problem to have but many are arriving in less than pristine condition (gov 🥔 shown here) and they spoil fast. Our fridge is tiny (smaller than me).
#lockdown Day 17: bulk buy offer - gourmet bread. I split the box with a neighbor because all I really wanted was the loaf. 1 whole wheat bread, 1 bagel lookalike, 2 buns. Price = 97.50 yuan ($15). The bread turned out to be slightly stale
#Lockdown Day #17: 1 mini bottle of laundry detergent, 10 toilet rolls, 3 packages of tissues, 1 shampoo, 1 conditioner, 1 bar of soap, 1 hand soap, 1 toothpaste. Does the toothpaste normally come without a seal? Price = free. Gov handout no. 6
#lockdown Day 19: remember that friend who accidentally bought six cases of vinegar instead of six jugs? That’s the smartest buy in retrospect. She’s kind to share 4 with me. The ability to pickle excess veg and make hot n sour potato matchsticks? Priceless.
#lockdown Day 20: I finally got on a regular food delivery app! These were the only two sets available: shrimp rice rolls and beef congee; chicken and mushroom rice. PLUS I got two bottles of black vinegar through my back channel. All at regular prices.
#lockdown Day 21: 4 lettuce, 2.5 bundles of celery, 1 asparagus lettuce, 🤏bok choy, 3 pears, 3 apples, 4 clementines, egg noodles, red bean buns, luncheon meat, corn oil, glass noodles, sugar and 1 soy sauce (which a friend warned maybe dodgy). Price = free. Gov handout no. 7
#lockdown Day 22: coffee grinds by the kilo only. Price = 300 yuan ($46)
#lockdown Day 23: same box of apples. 50% more than 10 days ago. Price = 300 yuan ($46)
#lockdown Day 23: set box of Italian cold cuts. I only wanted bacon, fresh sausages and salami but they stuff in the uber expensive stuff like the pork neck. They sent over the wrong box and so, after a month, still can’t get fatty bacon. Price = 1263 yuan ($194).
#lockdown Day 25: my order from JD finally arrived. 25 days after I ordered it. Part of the delay is the disinfecting of packages. Contrary to what most scientists (including many in China) say, officials here blame 📦 for transmitting #COVID19
#Lockdown Day 25: delivery fees are normally under 10 yuan ($1.50). These days I’ve paid anywhere from 70 yuan($11) to 300 yuan ($46) for delivery. This part I don’t mind. Some delivery drivers sleep on the street just to be able to continue to work.
#Lockdown Day 26: bulk buy offer: 22lbs of rice (first I could get my hands on outside of gov handouts) and 1/2 gallon of cooking wine (essential in Chinese cooking). Do I normally buy in these quantities? Nope. Price = 124 yuan ($19)
#Lockdown Day 27: 1 dried bean curd, 1 gluten, 1 meat floss biscuit, 1 fresh rice noodle pack, 1 jar of fermented bean curd (good for making fried rice), 1 dark vinegar, 1 ketchup, 1 spring onion and ginger cooking wine 🤔, 1 box of curry cubes. Gov handout no. 8 Price = free
#lockdown Day 27: for weeks I’ve been on the hunt for essentials: soy sauce, black & white vinegar, cooking wine and oil. While some came through in gov handouts, we still bought and bartered because we never knew what would arrive and when. I’ve not used most of these brands
While I’m on the eight handout from my district government, my friends and colleague in other parts of the city are only on their 3rd or 4th. And this one 👇was a donation from a private firm to the district residents. And handouts don’t vary according to household size.
https://twitter.com/evolrof/status/1516680525523873792
#lockdown Day 27: drinking water from a contact via WeChat. I had to transfer the money first. Heard nothing for hours. At 8 p.m. he called to say all 25 gallons are at the gate. Double the usual price per unit. He accepted the $ after I received the water. Price = 380 yuan ($57)
#lockdown Day 27: was expecting a bread order and received frozen seafood instead. Briefly excited that the food gods heard we haven’t had much variety in our diets for a month. Then the delivery driver frantically called to say he gave us the wrong order.
#lockdown Day 27: this was the intended bread order. Thanks to @chris__pc for letting us piggyback off your bulk buy group. 4 pretzels, 3 buns, 2 cheesesticks (?), 2 croissants & 1 box of shortbread. German bakery. Normally pricey but fresh! Price = 208 yuan ($31) incl delivery
#Lockdown Day 28: bulk buy set - split 1 order (14lbs) with a friend. My half: 1 marrow, 2 eggplants, 2 cucumbers, 2 tomatoes. 1 baby Napa cabbage, handful of bok choy. Later swapped 1 marrow for 3 more tomatoes. Price = $8 (at least double the usual price)
#Lockdown Day 29: gift from the Shanghai Foreign Affairs Office in charge of foreign journalists. 2 boxes of coffee, 2 packs of disinfectant wipes, 2 bottles of antibacterial hand wash, 1 tub of unsalted nuts. Price = free
#Lockdown Day 29: last night I heard a convenience shop was open. Finally some snacks!? Got pulled into the shop’s WeChat group, along with 300 others. No explanation how to order. Just photos of what’s left at the shop. So I took a chance and sent an order into the group chat …
#Lockdown Day 29: Woke up to find my delivery arrived thanks to a trusty friend who is able to leave home. We got the 6 coke zeros and 4 electrolyte drinks we wanted. But only 1 beer and sanitary pads rather than liners plus M&Ms. No chips and ice cream. Price = $14. Usual price
#Lockdown Day 29: bulk buy offer: fresh milk, which is normally pricey anyways for less than 2 pints. But it seems the more expensive brands are more readily available. Price = 30 yuan ($4.60)
#Lockdown Day 29: day after some city residents banged pots & pans calling for more even distribution of supplies, the gov sent handouts, even to our compound. That makes👇handout #9 (many only on 3rd/4th). Choco pies, flour, milk, noodles, 8 salted duck eggs. Price = 0
#Lockdown Day 30: Take-out via Alibaba’s Eleme platform. The restaurant called to say food was ready but no delivery driver took up our order. No wonder. Turns out Eleme only charged us (& pay) 2 yuan ($0.30) for the delivery for the short distance. Restaurant staff biked it over
#Lockdown Day 30: FIRST successful (individual) grocery order from an app. I place everything in the basket the night before. Shop opens at 10. At 09:59 click ‘checkout’ repeatedly. Success! My Korean friend said delivery slots were taken within ☝️ min. Few vegetables available
#lockdown Day 30: this is what bulk buy sets look like at my compound: one item or set at a time. 3Lbs of Pork belly, shoulder, minced pork, and spareribs. Price = 188 yuan ($28). I normally don’t buy these cuts of meat so I don’t have a price comparison
#Lockdown Day 32: we jumped on a friend’s compound bulk buy offer. Then found a delivery guy to send it to ours. Fruit is normally pricey in China. 22 kiwis (gave 2 to the guards), 19 avocados, 8 boxes of blueberries and 6 bags of grapes. Price = 884 yuan ($134) incl delivery
#lockdown Day 32: gave grapes and kiwis to a friend because there is no sense in hanging on to fruit that will ripen fast in this weather. She insisted on giving back so we took a much needed potato and carrots for a stew. We finally have fruit and meat but running low on veg
#lockdown Day 33: a friend sent me the WeChat of a little import shop that has re-opened. To order: download images from the shop’s WeChat feed of current stock. Indicate on the photos how many of each item I want. No $ list
#lockdown Day 33: wait for staff to get back to you and tell you what isn’t available. (Pro tip: Order similar products in case an item is out of stock because the shop is busy and doesn’t have time to go back and forth with you) Transfer money via WeChat. Order a delivery driver
#lockdown Day 33: first successful bacon order 🙌 Regular price but again only the more expensive brands available. Offer the maximum tip of 50 yuan ($7.60) on Shansong app to ensure a delivery driver will take up your order.
#Lockdown Day 33: 12 oranges, 6 green peppers, 3 garlic, ginger, 2 sweet yams, 2 eggplants, bok choy and our first leek in over a month (quite essential in a lot of cold salads in Chinese cooking), 2 preserved vegetables. Price = $0 Gov handout no 10 (some districts on their 4th)
#Lockdown Day 34: Panty liners from JD arrived. I heard feminine pads are considered an essential product fast tracked in the delivery system. Still, this took 2 wks to arrive. Shops around me are out of stock. A lot of my girl friends are also searching for sanitary products
#Lockdown Day 34: organic grape tomatoes. Didn’t buy 4.4 lbs of grape tomatoes because they were organic. I got them because they’re versatile to use for pasta or eat as is & we wouldn’t have to use up our canned tomatoes because that is in shorter supply. Price = 128 yuan ($19)
#Lockdown Day 35: I borrowed a pair of hair cutting scissors from a neighbor. And I gave her two 🥑 🥑 because … well 🥑 are hard to come by and frankly I was happy to not have to cut hair with cuticle trimmers.
#Lockdown Day 35: celery after two days in the fridge has begun to wilt. On the one hand I’m glad vegetables here don’t have a lot of wax to increase the shelf life. But not so much during a lockdown when we’re still mainly relying on gov handouts for vegetables.
#Lockdown Day 35: I’ve got nice friends who let me tag along on their compound’s bulk buy. Same German bakery. 3 pumpkin seed buns, nut and cranberry bread, 2 brownies, 2 pretzels, 2 cheese sticks, 2 croissant and 1 box of shortbread. Price = 193 yuan ($29)
#lockdown Day 36: Shop 2 blocks down has been open. We pass by during PCRs but it won’t serve customers in person, so we have to do it via an app. I finally got a delivery slot &restocked dish washing liquid, laundry detergent, orange juice and wash cloths. Price = 149 yuan ($22)
#lockdown Day 36: 5.5 lbs rice, ☝️ luncheon meat, 8 packs of yeast, red dates, white fungus & crystal sugar. The rice and yeast are welcomed but the rest are useless to us. Gov handouts if you can get them (no 11 for us) cannot tie a family for more than a few days. Price = $0
#lockdown Day 36: more restaurants reopening for delivery. No minimum order at this place like many so we indulged in some spicy chicken 辣子鸡 and sauerkraut fish 酸菜鱼 (also hot and spicy) Am I gonna save the dried chilies for future cooking? You betcha.
Note: my experience is the best case scenario. Unlike many, I can still wfh and get paid. But our buying power got taken away among other things. My compound is in the richest part of town & receives more handouts than most. While helpful, this is not something to celebrate.
A few of you have offered to send me stuff from abroad. Lovely gesture. Not feasible or necessary. Instead, thank you for listening to our programs. And if you like what you hear consider 👇
https://twitter.com/Marketplace/status/1522328074225782784
#lockdown Day 37: ☝️ pre-cooked red sausage. Gov handout #12. Price = $0. On the same day our compound warned us to not order deliveries or do bulk buys for the week. So … I guess they figure this sausage will tie us over til then …
A friend who received the ☝️ red sausage earlier describes the taste as “rubbery”. 📸 courtesy of a friend
#Lockdown Day 38: first individual bread order but there is a minimum order of $22 from a baker I had on WeChat. 10 mini croissants, 8 raisin rolls, 2 pains au chocolat, 2 chocolate 🍩, 1 cranberry bread, 1 baguette. Price = 184 yuan ($27)
#Lockdown Day 38: Order from JD arrives after 34 days bringing the total to 9 white and dark vinegars and 4 cooking oils. Now I’m low on meat and veg. 1.5 gallons of white vinegar and 1.4 gallons of white vinegar. Price = 122 yuan ($18)
The boxes carrying the oil and vinegar were heavily sprayed with disinfectant by the security guards. Health officials here couldn’t tell me what the likelihood is of catching COVID from packages (low if you ask scientists abroad) but say if there’s a chance, then disinfect.
#Lockdown Day 40: the bok choy from the bulk buy is flowering. Put it in with the soup, along with pumpkin (bartered), yam/peppers/marrow/ginger (handout).
#Lockdown Day 41: 3 snow pears, 3 apples, 3 boxes of milk, 1 noodle bundle, 2 boxes of Chinese medicine, 1 five spice beef, 1 box of rapid antigen tests, 1 hand sanitizer. Government handout no 13 on a week when we’ve been told to stop deliveries and bulk buys. Price = $0
#Lockdown Day 42: topic of fish came up in my compound grp when someone pipes up: “The compound next door is getting live fish. Shall we do it? Min. order 150 fishes so we need a few compounds to join.” Do all my neighbors know how to gut and clean a fish except me? (🎥 neighbor)
#Lockdown Day 42: I was looking for lemons on food apps. When I found a shop that had them the anxiety set in that I might not get another delivery slot soon so I grabbed whatever seemed appealing. In the end the shop was so busy it forgot to pack my 🍋 🍋. Price = 416 yuan ($61)
Whoops. Thread broke off. Continues 👇
https://twitter.com/jpak25/status/1525842783403393024
#Lockdown Day 46: 2nd individual order in the past week and neither of us got anything on the list. We’re shopping in a fog. 10 soda waters, 4 blueberries, 2 🧀 , shampoo & conditioner, ☝️ cereal, ☝️UHT milk, ☝️butter,☝️Munich sausages,☝️roll trash bags. Price = 375 yuan ($56)
#lockdown Day 47: bulk buy vegetable deal: 鸡毛菜 mini bok choy, 空心菜 water spinach, 红莧菜 red amaranth, spring onion. Price = 30 yuan ($4.50). Probably the most reasonable vegetable buy so far. Veg is usually quite cheap
#Lockdown Day 47: tragedy. Designated dishwasher snapped the spatula with the longest handle in the household just as I’m getting the hang of the newish wok. Said dishwasher said use the tongs instead! Clearly he doesn’t do the stir fries. See the last meal the spatula produced
#lockdown Day 48: broad beans from a few days ago have gone bad. Managed to salvage eight.
#lockdown Day 48: found a replacement spatula from a food delivery app. It’s not exactly what I want but it’s metal. And of course I cannot just order what I need. There’s a minimum order. Price = 198 yuan ($29) All I needed was the spatula.
#lockdown Day 48: pork in five cuts. Government handout no 15. Price = $0. First uncooked meat handout in over a month. Luckily we don’t depend on handouts but some people who can’t afford the bulk buys and min. orders do. And a lot of districts aren’t getting as much as we are.
#lockdown Day 49: 2 quarts of fresh milk from bulk buy. 30% more than I usually pay. But that brand is not easy to find these days. Price = 60 yuan ($9)
#lockdown Day 49: 4 gallons of water arrived from JD. 45 days after I ordered. Price = 41 yuan ($6)
#Lockdown Day 51: food situation is easing for some areas at least. Most Chinese don’t eat frozen meat. And this is as fresh as you can get …
https://twitter.com/evolrof/status/1527976286869565440
#lockdown Day 51: jackpot. JD order arrives. 4 packs of Yunnan spices, 4 beef stock (finally), 3 soy sauces (now I’ve got 6), 2 ketchup, ☝️oyster sauce, ☝️chicken stock. Price = 240 yuan ($36). Normal prices. Took one month to arrive
#Lockdown Day 52: food delivery. Took 2 different apps to get ☝️ order through. No delivery driver took our order the first time. Second time took 2+ hours for a delivery slot. Lamb skewers & Lanzhou noodles. Price 144 yuan ($22)
#lockdown Day 52: bread from WeChat contact. 10 mini croissants, 4 raisin rolls, 2 sugar donuts, 2 cranberry bread, ☝️ sourdough loaf. Price = 207 yuan ($31)
#lockdown Day 23: 12 boxes of cereal. We’ve given up waking up at 5 a.m. to fight for delivery spots on apps a long time ago because it’s impossible to hold a full time job, hunt for food AND cook meals. Cereal counts as one meal. Price = 392 yuan ($59)
Whoops that should read lockdown day 53
#Lockdown Day 53: JD order arrives. 12 toilet rolls and 6 tissue packets. Price = 51 yuan ($8) normal price. Just took 43 days to arrive
#lockdown Day 53: a friend who is allowed out without restrictions saw a shop open and offered to buy us fruit. I was so happy I offered her a packet of Yunnan spice. 6 clementines, 4 kiwis, 4 bananas (first since the lockdown), 2 mangoes. Price = 150 yuan ($23)
#lockdown Day 54: got berries and lemons (first since in two months) 3 days ago and already lost one container of blackberry to mold in this humidity. Bulk buy order split with a friend. 4 lemons, 2 blackberries, 2 blueberries, 2 raspberries. Price 160 yuan ($24)
#lockdown Day 55: 5.5 lbs of rice, ☝️ salt chicken, two packs of glutinous rice desserts with red bean paste filling. Gov handout no 16 while some districts less well off have fewer than 10. Nearly 2 months on, supply chains are no where near normal. Price = $0
#lockdown Day 57: 10 rice dumplings (variety of fillings: red bean and red dates; salted egg yolk and pork; preserved veg and pork; pork), 4 salted duck eggs, salted egg flavored green bean biscuits. Gov handout no. 17 Price = $0 Just in time for the upcoming dragon boat fest
#lockdown Day 57: bulk buy via Pinduoduo where you only need 10 orders in your compound rather than 50+. 3 lettuces, ☝️ red amaranth 红米莧, celery, 抗白菜 small bok choy, water spinach, bag of mini bok choy 鸡毛菜. 11 lbs of veg. Price = 57 yuan ($8.50) Traded half for 4 mangoes
#lockdown Day 57: bulk buying at a friend’s compound with thousands of people has become so sophisticated they can buy by the pound. She kindly let me join. 5 potatoes, 5 carrots,☝️ watermelon. Price = 80 yuan ($12) Eggs were from her own stash.
#lockdown Day 57: Ordered from a shop via pics without price tags. 4 chips, 2 baked beans, 2 pesto sauce, 2 burrata cheese, 1 rum raisin ice cream,☝️ compte cheese, ☝️ olive oil, 1 olives, ☝️ pack of chicken wings, ☝️ puff pastry, turkey slices. Price = 889 yuan ($133)
#lockdown Day 58: this week we had celebrations. The first restaurant charged 268 yuan ($40) for fish. Pricey! So we ordered kung pao chicken and from a different restaurant: mala crayfish, squirrel fish, water spinach, 四喜烤麸 gluten salad. Price = 401 yuan ($60)
#lockdown Day 58: we ordered shake shack patties at the start of lockdown. Never arrived. Still no McDonald’s or KFC reopened in my area. But we can order a gourmet version. Blue cheese wings, a cheeseburger and fries. 289 yuan ($43)
#lockdown Day 58: a friend had to buy a whole case of tomatoes at her compound bulk buy offer. She split some for me. Cycled it over. 5 tomatoes. Price = 25 yuan ($4)
#lockdown Day 59: needed a treat. Saw this deal on a WeChat feed and there was no indication when it’ll be delivered. Arrived within 30 minutes. I wish it was as easy to find onions. 12 oysters. 1 caviar. Lemon and shucking knife included. Price = 839 yuan ($126)
Lockdown bartering: neighbor gave us a jug of water because they ordered too much. Later, we gave her two avocados. She sent a note to say the avocados sent her to tears because it’s been hard to buy them. She repaid us with 6 oranges when her company sent her a whole case.
#Lockdown day 60: is this onion still edible? Asking for a friend …
#lockdown Day 61: first deliveries from Alibaba’s Taobao arrives. Normal prices. Wok cover ordered more than 9 weeks ago. Price : 39 yuan ($6) Imported contact lens solution ordered 7.5 weeks ago. Price = 118 yuan ($18)
#lockdown easing Day 1 (or 62 if your building is still sealed): my first in-store purchase. Had to scan the QR code to show I have a PCR test done within the last 72 hours. Not much selection yet as you can see. Mango drink. Price = $1
#lockdown easing Day 1 (or 62 if your building is still sealed): seems more deliveries are coming through now. 6 air fresheners ($11), 2 contact lens solution ($41), 2 aluminum foil ($6).
#lockdown easing Day 2 (63 if your building is still sealed): at first we were waking up at 5am to buy on food apps. I succeeded ☝️ time. Only had Tsingtao beer in my virtual cart at checkout. That beer is here. Took 8 wks + 2 days. 11 bottles (+☝️ smashed) Price = 118 yuan ($18)
#lockdown easing day 4 (65 if your building is still sealed): First bubble tea in over 2 months. Didn’t find any restaurants on the walk to dine-in but street food is available. And most close by 8 p.m.
#lockdown easing day 4 (65 if your building is sealed): cabbie says he’s deep in debt after not being able to work. His company is not charging him rental fees for the last 2 months, but he says he’s got to pay mortgage & food prices had shot up. 👀 at all the shops still closed
#lockdown easing day 5 (66 if your building is still sealed): vegetables still crisp 10 days on. Tks @AmirBibawy for the tip to “store greens➕stainless steel 🥄 in a freezer bag.” Getting groceries has been a pain but trying to keep vegetables fresh induces just as much anxiety.
#Lockdown easing day 6 (67 if your building is still sealed): egg rolls with coconut + sugar filling arrive 11 weeks minus one day. A favourite Hong Kong snack that are hard to find so I got it from Taobao. The egg rolls here usually come with dried seaweed. Price: 65 yuan ($10)
#lockdown easing day 6 (67 if your building is still sealed): This Chengdu snack stall, like most restaurants, said they could only do takeout but that I can eat at their ☝️ table outside. 红烧牛肉面 braised beef noodles & cucumber salad. Price = 42 yuan ($6) +🌶 oil on shirt
#lockdown easing day 7 (68 if your block is still sealed): Got a mandated PCR test, then went to my usual Singaporean place (take out only). Singapore noodles and water spinach stir fried in shrimp paste (tasted a bit flat). Price = 76 yuan ($11) for the food. $0 for PCR.
#Lockdown Day 7 (68 if your block is still sealed): the local market closed an hour earlier than usual. But the stall next door was open. 2 leeks, 2 green peppers, ☝️ onion,☝️ cauliflower and some baby bok choy. Price = 25 yuan ($4) still pricier than usual, but not as bad
#lockdown Day 7 (68 if your block is still sealed): Pocari Sweat powder from JD. 25 packets. Took nearly two weeks to arrive. Logistics is resuming but not quite up to normal speed. Price = 45 yuan ($7)
#Lockdown easing Day 9 (70 if your block is still sealed): more Pocari sweat. I bought multiples just in case one order wouldn’t arrive. As usual they arrive at once. 12 bottles or 2.9 gallons. Price = 100 yuan ($15)
#lockdown easing day 9 (70 if your block is still sealed): my manicurist says she’s been living at the spa w/out pay for 2 months. There weren’t enough people in the building to do bulk buys. For a while she was surviving off instant noodles - stuff she never wants to eat again.
#lockdown easing day 10 (71 if your block is still sealed): Failed orders on 2 apps. Lucked out at the Korean mart. 5 seaweed sheets, 2 king oyster mushroom, 2 burdock, frozen crab sticks, ☝️ pickled radish, beef, salted shrimp, grape drink, grape juice. Price = 370 yuan ($55)
#Lockdown easing day 10 (71 if your block is still sealed): recent purchases on JD and Taobao arrived within 3 days, while others orders months ago still haven’t arrived. Raman soup spoons = 18 yuan ($5), 10 toilet tablets. Price = 47 yuan ($$7)! lentils. Price = 36 yuan ($5)
#Lockdown easing day 10 (71 if your block is still sealed): was looking for burger patties and got distracted. Bacon, black pudding, kebab meat. Price 121 yuan ($18)
#Lockdown easing day 12 (73 if your block is still sealed): Ordered these items when there were rumours of another lockdown but no idea when they’d arrive. In the end they took 4 days. 4 toothpaste 56 yuan ($8), 60 garbage bags 13 yuan ($2), 3 dishwashing liquid 51 yuan ($8)
#lockdown easing day 13 (74 if your block is still sealed): dining in is still not an option at my favorite places. Takeout: 3 pork and preserved veg + vegetarian buns (Price = 7.5 yuan/$1); 30 beef + pork with sour veg (Price: 40 yuan/$6) + homemade bean curd salad
#Lockdown easing day 14 (75 if your block is still sealed): I was this close to the PCR COVID test when the workers declared the booth closes at 8:45 p.m. as opposed to 9 p.m. as the national app to find testing points indicates
#Lockdown easing day 14 (75 if your block is still sealed): a few tried to argue but the workers started stripping out of their hazmat suits. A volunteer said if we don’t like it complain to their boss (er who’s that?) Another woman: “Take their photos! Expose them online!”
It’s very likely that these workers don’t get paid any overtime (one job ad said they get 200 yuan/$30 a day) so they may have decided to pack up at 8:45 p.m. to get off at 9 on the dot. I empathize with this but what a pain for residents
#lockdown easing day 15 (or 76 if your block is so sealed): Passed by this restaurant but still ordered delivery in case they check health codes. Mine shows results over 72 hrs but doesn’t say I’ve just taken another test. Tuna cheese melt & tomato soup. Price = 144 yuan ($21)
Lockdown easing day 18 (79 if your block is still sealed): dinner parties are more popular since there are few places to dine in. Can’t go empty-handed. Baking supplies arrived in 30 mins. 4 icing sugars, dark and balsamic vinegars, 2 yogurts, 2 Guinness. Price = 152 yuan ($23)
Lockdown easing day 18 (79 if your block is still sealed): two flats of Coke Zero appeared. We’ve no idea when we ordered this. Likely back in March.
#Lockdown easing day 18 (79 if your block is still sealed): 6 smoked oysters (49 yuan/$7), 10 packets of Tom Yum instant noodles (44 yuan/$7), 5 pairs of socks for summer (33 yuan/$5) from Taobao and JD. Arrived between 2-7 days. We’re still ordering without a delivery date
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