Tradition has it that hundreds of people gathered in front of the old Hankow Customs House building, one of the most popular New Year’s Eve spots in the city. When the building’s old clock reached midnight, many people released balloons, cheered and shouted ‘Happy New Year’.
“I am so very happy,” said 20-year-old student and tourist Yang Wenxuan. “This is my first time in Wuhan. But it (the countdown) was so spectacular.”
“I hope I can successfully complete my bachelor’s degree and I hope I can find a friend,” added Yang.
The festivities came 12 months after the World Health Organization (WHO) said it first received reports of pneumonia cases of unknown cause in Wuhan, which later became known as the world’s first Covid-19 outbreak.
A team of WHO experts is scheduled to arrive in China in January 2021 to investigate the origins of the pandemic.
Wuhan has been largely virus-free for months and has vaccinated a number of specific groups of the local population in recent days. But a recent small rise in the number of cases in several Chinese cities, including Beijing, has reminded the people of Wuhan that the pandemic is not over yet.
“I hope that by 2021 everything will go well in the country and Wuhan can return to normal and I hope the world can soon beat the pandemic,” said Wuhan resident Anson Yang.
The 25-year-old, who works in the international trade sector, said his earnings were badly hit in 2020 and he knows many companies in Wuhan that are yet to return to normal trading levels.
Several students longed for an end to the pandemic so that they could continue with personal studies. However, a university student drew some positive lessons from the fight against the pandemic.
“When we look at the measures that people have taken, the things that people did as part of the epidemic control and the like, a human or friendly touch, something that we would not normally see was felt by everyone,” said the 21- year old Chen Mengfan.