China’s ‘zero-COVID’ restrictions curb May 1 holiday travel

By KEN MORITSUGU and EMILY WANG
Associated Press

BEIJING (AP) — Many Chinese are marking a quiet May Day holiday this year as the government’s “zero-COVID” approach restricts travel and enforces lockdowns in multiple cities. All restaurants in Beijing have been closed to dine-in customers for four days, and parks and tourist attractions in the Chinese capital are limited to half capacity. The Universal Studios theme park in Beijing said it had shut down temporarily. The Transport Ministry says it expects 100 million trips to be taken from Saturday to Wednesday, which would be down 60% from last year. Much of Shanghai, China’s largest city and a finance, manufacturing and shipping hub, remains locked down, disrupting people’s lives and dealing a blow to the economy.