Our good friend Brandon Taylor - a recent Penn State grad - is spending the summer interning for a China Daily Newspaper. We had the pleasure of his visit to our guest house - along with the rest of his family. Harry
by Brandon Taylor from China -
The Chinese, I've been told, are some of the friendliest people in the world, especially to foreigners. Right now, however, it may not be the best time to be non-Chinese. While the Chinese are calm and polite, one thing that sticks out as I walk down the street is the number of Chinese who cover their mouths when I pass. I'm not surprised.
News coverage would make it seem that swine flu is raging rampant in other parts of the world, with Japan reporting over 130 cases and numerous cases popping up in the United States. China, on the other hand, seems to have kept its number of incidents in the single digits. But not 24 hours after arriving in Beijing, I was made aware of the seventh case of swine flu in China.
The case was discovered in a Chinese citizen on Flight CA0982. Flight CA0982 departing from New York City. Flight CA0982 departing from New York City on May 20 at 4:20 p.m. Flight CA0982: my flight.
Swine flu incident number seven – my lucky number.
Nothing was out of the ordinary on my flight, aside from the fact that I was the only Caucasian among a sea of sitting and sleeping Asians. As I remembered it, I had been the only person to cause any disturbances, sneezing profusely after forgetting to take my allergy medicine that morning. Each sneeze brought stares from people sitting to my left and right, as well as a few head turns from the people in front of me.
Upon landing in Beijing, Chinese health officials boarded our plane, dressed predominantly in white. It reminded me of the stormtroopers boarding the rebel spaceship at the beginning of the first Star Wars movie. They even carried laser type guns, which they pointed at each passenger's head to take temperatures.
"Help me Obi Wan Kenobi!" They took my temperature, and I was allowed off the plane.
When the China Daily workers picked me up at the airport, I was told about a very loose, voluntary quarantine policy the Chinese government had put in place. All travelers were encouraged to stay in their hotels or homes for five to seven days after arriving in China, just as a precaution.
A day later, I got a phone call from another China Daily staff member. He explained to me the situation – someone on my flight had an irregular temperature and was sent to a hospital.
In my mind I began packing my bags, half expecting to be sent back to the States. Instead of sending me home, they sent me a thermometer. Twice a day I was to take my temperature and report to a China Daily staff member, who would in turn contact the Chinese government. I was practically a celebrity, but just not the way I had hoped.
Despite the precautions that prevented me from fully experiencing Beijing, I was fine with the matter. The Chinese government was just trying to protect its people from a flu that was sweeping the globe. In 2003, China encountered SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) when 774 people died and over 8,000 were infected. Chinese officials had obviously learned from any errors and made drastic corrections to prevent another outbreak.
The situation I found myself in could hardly be called a quarantine, but more extreme cases have occurred to Chinese citizens and foreigners in recent months resulting in accusations of human rights violations. While appearing to be a bit harsh, such health security measures make sense, especially when dealing with a population of 1.3 billion.
Keep in mind, China may have a rapidly growing economy, but certain areas are substantially less developed than others. An outbreak in poorer regions in China could be disastrous, as medical care may not always be readily available. Try buying Tamiflu in a region where the water is undrinkable and no one has ever heard of Wal-Mart or McDonald's. To complain bitterly about not being able to run around Beijing because of some ridiculous flu would have been all-too American of me.
The coup de grace with my swine flu run-in came after I found out that someone had misspoken about my quasi-quarantine status. Apparently, some of the hotel staff was under the impression that I was actually sick. That would explain why hotel workers came to our door wearing masks and left quickly thereafter.
So I was the allegedly sick American staying in room 423. This must mean the men in the hazmat suits would be coming soon. Well, at least I had enough dress clothing for the internship I was to have started to look decent for my close-up on CNN later that night. Or maybe I'd just go out and buy my own little white mask, just in case.
Check out blog posts "Sneeze on a Plane" and "Hello. It's the U.S. Government. Your Mom called" for more details on my experience with the swine flu.
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