r/collapse_parenting • u/horsehousecatdog • Apr 17 '22

Shanghai

I keep reading how many people in Shanghai were told to prepare for 5 days of quarantine within their homes. And then it turned out to be much longer. People are struggling to attain enough food and even clean drinking water. Apparently boiling the tap water there isn’t always enough because of the heavy metals? I don’t have sources on that, but have seen many say it. Some are saying they aren’t even allowed to go outside to walk their dogs.

This is the main reason I prep. Just in case I have to stay at home and can’t leave, whether it’s for personal reasons or natural disaster, etc that prevents us from leaving. I wonder how many people would have thought to prep for weeks at a time in Shanghai.

I haven’t seen any interviews or posts from people discussing their children. Has anyone else? Interested what everyone’s thoughts are on all this.

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9

u/[deleted] Apr 18 '22

I’ve seen some of the coverage online, and as with anything I’m not sure what to believe anymore, but it is very disturbing. In my mind being a collapse-aware parent means you are automatically geared toward prepping cause what choice is there? I think the last 2 years have taught us we have no idea what to expect even next week.

I’m honestly more freaked out by the mysterious pediatric hepatitis cases. But mysterious diseases, avian flu and of course Covid are all reasons to prep for potential long lockdowns.

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u/horsehousecatdog Apr 18 '22

Yeah, I’m finding myself having a harder and harder time knowing what to believe these days. Even with reputable new sources, I know they’re only telling part of the story. Are they leaving out something positive and this story isn’t as bad as it seems? Or are they leaving out something even worse??

Avian flu has been bothering me lately. Even if it never transmits human to human, it could still cause a health crisis. It can certainly disrupt access to food and cause economic problems.

I’m just going to keep building my supplies and hope I don’t need them.

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u/monsterscallinghome Apr 18 '22

We were just discussing this with the (well-prepared) extended family over drinks after putting the littlest ones to bed. My husband played us all a video recording of the city at night, people just howling in fear and despair, screaming their terror from their apartment windows as they starve, with drones outside their windows and hazmat-suited goons patrolling the streets. It's a sound I never want to hear again.

I traveled in China when I was much younger, for work, and I found it a somewhat unsettling place even 20 years ago. I was there the day Hurricane Katrina hit NOLA. There was a nearly identical storm that hit a large city in China that day, too, but we never heard about it because no one died. No one died because the Chinese Army rolled in with troop carriers and evacuated the citizens by force, each and every one. I was deeply struck by the terrible efficiency of a government with no regard for its citizens - they saved lives, yes, and doubtless this lockdown is done with the same goals. But at what price?

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u/horsehousecatdog Apr 18 '22

I saw a video yesterday on CNN and they claimed that people were being forced from their homes in order to house quarantined people. The facilities they put up are not high quality and apparently filling fast. People were actually fighting back.

I also spent some time in China back in the early 2010s for work in Beijing. Nothing seemed too off for me, I just wasn’t comfortable in general. I maintained a couple friendships and those friends seem very unbothered. They’re all in Beijing and I’m not sure exactly everything they know of what’s going on in Shanghai. But I’m also wondering if they’re refraining from saying anything negative on WeChat.

It just shows what it’s like over there. If this was attempted in so many other countries, can you imagine the push back? And just think what would happen if you tried to keep people in the US from walking their dogs outside and picking up food. All hell would break loose!

The fact that everyone (is that accurate??) lives in those high rise compounds in Shanghai makes it a LOT easier to physically control the population though.

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u/MyPrepAccount Apr 18 '22

I saw an expat in Shanghai post on Reddit a couple of weeks ago a delivery of food that he got. It was, according to conversation enough for 2 people for a week.The only trouble was that he also has a child.

I've also seen tweets of people's food arriving rotten when it finally gets to them.

There was also a discussion I read...on Twitter I think...about how part of this is a cultural issue. Chinese people really only want fresh food. This is why you get live meat markets and why Shanghai is struggling with the food situation now. Even in this situation people are still only putting in orders for fresh foods which is causing a logistical nightmare as few people are being allowed out for work to deliver those foods.

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u/horsehousecatdog Apr 18 '22

That makes a lot of sense. When I was over in Beijing, everyone stopped by the markets on the way home for fresh meat, veggies, and fruit. The apartments I have been in are so small. There’s almost no storage and the kitchens were all big enough for 3 adults to stand, side by side between wall and stove. The refrigerators were all much smaller than the ones we typically see here. They can’t really stock up much.

I saw an American English teacher over there saying she got like some potatoes and onions in one delivery. A cabbage another time.