The Epoch Times
The Epoch Times
AD
The Epoch Times
Support Us
SHARE
CCP VirusINSIDE CHINA

People Locked Down in Xinjiang Unable to Visit Hometowns for China’s National Day Holiday

Copy
Facebook
X
Truth
Gettr
LinkedIn
Telegram
Email
Save
People Locked Down in Xinjiang Unable to Visit Hometowns for China’s National Day Holiday
Residents wearing masks walk along the streets of Aksu in western China's Xinjiang region on March 18, 2021. Ng Han Guan/AP Photo
By Alex Wu
10/2/2022Updated: 10/3/2022
0:00

Many people in China’s Xinjiang region can’t leave to visit their hometowns during the week-long “October First” holiday—officially “National Day”—under the regime’s restrictive zero-COVID-19 control measures. Protests broke out against the indefinite lockdowns.

Most of Xinjiang, which is home to an ethnic Uyghur majority, has been under COVID-19 lockdown for more than 50 days.

Mr. Guo, who is from Sichuan Province but working in Urumqi, Xinjiang, told The Epoch Times on Sept. 29 that because his local area is still under lockdown, he isn’t allowed to return home to visit his family during the “October First” holiday.

“Nobody knows when the lockdown will be lifted. We have to do PCR tests every day, are locked up at home, and are not allowed to leave the community. Everyone is going crazy. It’s miserable.”

Guo, who provided only his surname to The Epoch Times for fear of reprisal, noted that some communities have been shut again after their lockdowns were temporarily lifted.

Stuck Without Food

Guo said that because of the strict restrictions on movement, it’s very difficult to return home from Xinjiang.

“Going back to my hometown (Sichuan) is also troublesome,” he said. “It’s not just because I have to pay for the quarantine; the key is that people there are afraid of those who return from Xinjiang [where there are reported COVID-19 cases]. It is also difficult to leave Xinjiang now. There are checkpoints in many places.”

Guo told The Epoch Times that he finally decided not to return to his hometown to visit his family this year, amid the prospect of not having food in Xinjiang.

“The Xinjiang government is very corrupt, and there are a lot of staff in the community offices selling rationed vegetable packs for 30 yuan a pack and take the money themselves. The price of everything goes up. Sometimes, you can’t find food to buy even if you have money, and sometimes the supermarkets and shops are not allowed to open. In short, it’s horrible,” he said.

Protests Against Indefinite Lockdown

Mr. Li, another Urumqi resident who provided only his surname for fear of reprisal, told The Epoch Times on Sept. 29 that the local areas have been under lockdown for more than two months. Recently, people in many places took to the streets to protest and were suppressed.

“Because many people do not have food and sources of income, they protested in both district and residential communities to demand the lifting of the lockdown,” Li said. “During the protest, pandemic control staff and residents clashed, and they took the residents away, dragging them by their necks!”

Screenshot of a video of the protest against COVID-19 lockdown in Wangjialiang, Xinjiang, on Sept. 25, 2022. (Screenshot from Weibo via The Epoch Times)
Screenshot of a video of the protest against COVID-19 lockdown in Wangjialiang, Xinjiang, on Sept. 25, 2022. Screenshot from Weibo via The Epoch Times

On Sept. 25, a large number of people rushed to the streets of Wangjialiang in Urumqi, to protest against the nearly two-month lockdown. Someone knelt in front of government epidemic control staff and cried that “the whole family can’t live anymore.” The video quickly went viral. Under the pressure of public opinion, local authorities lifted the lockdown in that area.

“Although lockdowns have been lifted in a few communities, it continues in many other neighborhoods,” Li said. “We have been quarantined at home for more than two months, and strangely, some residents in lockdown still tested positive. Many people just have a cold but test positive for COVID. It caused others living in the same neighborhood to be locked in at home as well.

“The community office staff even told us that they did not understand why some residents still test positive even when all the residents have been quarantined at home for two months.”

He also said that the lockdown seems indefinite.

“The government office simply ignores our phone calls,” Li said. “You ask them when the lockdown will be lifted, and they just say ‘wait.’ Now, only [government appointed] volunteers are allowed to go out, and everyone else has to stay in at home.”

Zhao Fenghua and Hong Ning contributed to this report.
Alex Wu
Alex Wu
Author
Alex Wu is a U.S.-based writer for The Epoch Times focusing on Chinese society, Chinese culture, human rights, and international relations.
Author’s Selected Articles

China’s April Economic Data Show Broad-Based Slowdown

May 22, 2025
China’s April Economic Data Show Broad-Based Slowdown

China Residents Report New Wave of COVID-19 as Infection Rates Double

May 19, 2025
China Residents Report New Wave of COVID-19 as Infection Rates Double

Chinese Regime Claims It Bears No Responsibility for US Fentanyl Crisis

May 16, 2025
Chinese Regime Claims It Bears No Responsibility for US Fentanyl Crisis

Brazilian President Visits China, Signs Tens of Billions in Deals With Beijing

May 14, 2025
Brazilian President Visits China, Signs Tens of Billions in Deals With Beijing
Related Topics
protest
Xinjiang
Urumqi
lockdown
Wangjiahe
Save
The Epoch Times
Copyright © 2000 - 2025 The Epoch Times Association Inc. All Rights Reserved.