A(H1N1) infection brings quiet to bustling Beijing neighborhood

Photo by Wang Jun

BEIJING – The few students who showed up for classes Friday at Wangjing’s DiQiuCun Chinese Language school learned a new word, "geli", which means “quarantine,” after Beijing’s first mass infection of A(H1N1) hit this neighborhood in the northeast area of the city.

The official Xinhua News Agency reported seventeen Nanhu Zhongyuan Primary School students have been diagnosed with A(H1N1) flu as of Friday morning.

Wangjing is often called “Korea Town” because of the large number of Korean residents who live in the area. Most business signs are written in both Chinese and Korean to appeal to the lucrative Korean market. But after the reports of the infection, many foreigners in the area decided to stay home.

The DiQiuCun language school, which has students primarily from South Korean and Japan, was noticeably quiet Friday. Tomihari Michiko, a Japanese citizen who has lived in Beijing for three years, said she didn’t attend classes on Friday because she wanted to stay home with her children. She said many of her Japanese friends made the same decision.

“I will return to Tokyo this month for my children’s vacation, and I just don’t want to take any chances,” she said.

Huoluhuo, a popular Korean BBQ restaurant in Wangjing, usually has a wait of at least 30 minutes every evening. Diners on Friday night were surprised to find that they could immediately be seated. Usually packed with Korean customers, Friday night found that most patrons were Chinese.

Likewise, Live Bar, a popular Korean nightclub with musical performances, only had eight customers all night.

Math tutor Woojung Park said all of her students canceled classes with her this weekend for fear of infection. “People are very concerned about their health. I think people were surprised that the first case of mass infection would happen in our neighborhood, so people are being more cautious than usual.”

A Chinese resident of Wangjing who identified herself by her family name, Du, said that people were overreacting.

“Japan and America have far more cases of the flu than we’ve had in China. People are just being stupid,” she said.

Students at Nanhu Zhongyuan Primary School were allowed to begin their summer vacation before finishing their final examinations. The school will open a week early in August to allow those students to sit for their examinations.

Li Yang, a mother who will send her daughter to the school this fall, said she has no qualms about the health of her daughter.

“It will be the cleanest and healthiest school in China now that they’ve had this problem,” she said.