Living In the Shadow of SARS

By LU ZHU

A trip to Shanghai in 2002.

I was born in April, when spring is in the air, the sun shines, the sky is blue, and the fragrance of lilacs is everywhere. This year's birthday was unforgettable. As the SARS epidemic had broken out in Beijing, it was spent under the threat of this killer disease.

Beijing University was one of the first universities to report a case of SARS. A teacher's mother came from Inner Mongolia on March 20 and was found to have contracted SARS. She died on April 15. Later the teacher came down with a fever, and was placed under quarantine. SARS began to cast its net. The Institute of Economics where the teacher worked, and the primary school where the teacher's daughter was enrolled, suspended classes. Beijing University took prompt measures to prevent the spread of SARS, and soon dispensed thermometers, masks, disinfectant, and toilet soap. Dormitories were disinfected every two days, and the university was sealed off. It felt like living inside a besieged city.

I made the decision to buy and stockpile enough food to be able to hibernate. To my surprise, the supermarket was full of people with the same idea. Instant noodles and crackers were in great demand, and masks were soon out of stock. The atmosphere was palpably tense, and everyone consciously kept their distance. The end of the world seemed imminent.

The internet played an important role at that time. I began obsessively searching the net for SARS related news. The Phoenix Movie Channel rescheduled its programs, and showed a lot of classic films, including Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal, a work intensely philosophical and pregnant with meaning, in which Death says to man, "I am always beside you." At this time, it held particular significance for me.

The panic soon passed with the news that a native Beijing student who had been suspected of having SARS was found to be clear of it, that three interns from the Medical Department who had been infected with SARS while at the hospital had recovered, and that the Economics Institute teacher had been taken off the suspected list. We began to feel a little more assured and gradually resumed our normal life. The beauty of Weiming Lake was further enhanced by the sounds of strumming guitars as students danced, played badminton, or sat chatting and reading on the Jingyuan Garden lawn.

On the positive side, SARS had the effect of reconfirming close relationships. It became a matter of routine for me to call my parents in Chengdu every two days, and lots of friends and former classmates called to ask how I was. SARS thus unexpectedly provided an opportunity to maintain relationships over which academic obligations and the pressure of normal daily life would normally take precedence.

A matter of utmost concern to us was completing our theses and finding jobs. As everything was in a state of suspension, we initially felt relaxed about writing our theses, but on April 29, a notice was sent out informing us that they should be handed in as scheduled, after the Labor Day holiday. The following week everyone was frantically busy, sleeping just three or four hours a day.

The author (first right) with classmates on campus.

Finding jobs was also a matter of urgency. Increased enrollment over the past two years had resulted in more graduates, making for even fiercer competition within the job market. In early April I received an offer from Northern Jiaotong University. Two weeks later on April 17, four of its undergraduate students were reported as having contracted SARS, and the dormitory building was placed under quarantine. Northern Jiaotong University became one of the two Beijing universities hardest hit by SARS.

I was on tenterhooks, scanning their SARS report every day. The numbers soared, and finally, a total of 60 students were sent to hospital, although only a dozen were later confirmed as having contracted SARS. I was very nervous, as according to certain regulations, if I could not find a job before May 20, my crucially important hukou (place of permanent residence in China) would be returned to my hometown. A huge number of students were in the same boat, but as the deadline drew near, we had no choice but to wait.

Fortunately, teachers in charge of recruitment stood fast at their post, and on April 23, I was informed that I had passed examination and approval procedures. It remained for me to pass a physical examination at one of the two designated hospitals -- Northern Jiaotong University's school hospital and the People's Hospital. My fear of contracting SARS led me to choose the People's Hospital.

On the question of whether or not to go to hospital, my friends all held different views. Some were dead against it, while others considered it best to go then than later. As I hesitated, the news came that Xie Fei, a well-known Chinese director, had contracted SARS from a hospital physical examination. I became very scared and decided to wait until after the Labor Holiday. As it happened, the following day, April 24, the People's Hospital was listed among the hardest hit SARS areas, and placed under quarantine. 

I contacted the teachers after the Labor Holiday, and was given another two choices of where to take my physical examination: Beijing University Third Hospital or Haidian Hospital. As a teacher in the History Department of Beijing University had contracted SARS in the former, the latter seemed my only choice. On putting on two masks, and dressing in a worn-out T-shirt and jeans (which I intended later to discard), I rode my bicycle to the hospital. I was, however, stopped at the entrance, as it was receiving fever patients only. Finally, the extraordinary circumstances permitted me to have my physical examination at our school hospital.

As the Northern Jiaotong University was sealed off, the standard enrolment procedures became very complicated. I was obliged to wait at the school gate while a teacher dealt with the formalities.

All in all, the memory of this year's birthday and May holiday will stay with me forever.

LU ZHU is studying for a doctorate at the Chinese Department of Beijing University.