Residents Struggle to Buy Groceries as Lockdown Upends Life in Xi’an

By Hua Ang, Wang Yiran, Zhou Xinda, Wang Weijia and Cai Xuejiao

A volunteer pack vegetables and other food overnight, in preparation to deliver them to residents’ homes Wednesday in Xi’an, Northwest China’s Shaanxi province. Photo: VCG

A shop’s door is slightly open, lights on inside, and a faint sound comes out. Outside the door in the darkness, Xi’an resident Li Yuan and several others are waiting to buy food.

“It’s like conducting a ’black market’ transaction. One person is allowed in at a time and the door is shut behind,” Li recalled. That’s how locals in an urban village in the northwestern Chinese city’s Yanta district “secretly” bought daily necessities on Monday.

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