Beijing in the Time of SARS

And when we come back, we will undoubtedly both turn tail and leave China for a while.

I played ultimate Frisbee today, as I do most Sundays, with Beijing Ultimate, a largely expat club team. The only thing anybody talks about is SARS, but these people are not afraid. Most read NYTimes.com and other news online. Most Chinese do not. Most foreigners here have a better sense of the reality of the situation than the Chinese do. And a smaller proportion of foreigners than of Chinese seem to be wearing face masks. Because the economy has slowed to a near halt, many offices are closed or otherwise only open for business a few hours a day. Nobody wants to leave Beijing (of those who remain,) but very little is happening here. Many students have been told their exams will be cancelled, some have been told their degrees will not be awarded this spring at all. But, in general, the foreigners are much less worried than the Chinese. Several of my teachers had originally agreed to continue teaching me Chinese during the “vacation,” but have now reneged, obliging their husbands' orders to stay at home.

I don’t know how bad things have really gotten, or how bad they are likely to get, but I know that the financial strain is already enormous. Yesterday, lunching in a small restaurant just out of town, we were informed they couldn’t charge the prices on the menu because costs had increased. She said the price of fresh produce has not inflated much, but because they had served no meals for two days prior to our entering, they would have to run out and buy the produce then, and not in the bulk they priced for.

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