I was there during the spring festival and after, so I got to experience the whole thing firsthand. It was interesting.
Firstly I can say, aside from the local Wuhan administration sitting on their hands for too long, the government did respond appropriately if not heavy-handed. Within about two days, the whole country closed. Barely a car on the road, which could have been government vehicles; no restaurants, shops, etc. Highway checkpoints were set up going in/out of every city. We were stuck in my in-laws’ apartment complex; most urban communities are gated, with guards and you could not get in or out, without special permission under certain circumstances. I was stuck a few extra days because of that and flights being cancelled for lack of passengers. When it initially started, just before they stopped letting people out of their communities, we could get out but tried to go into another community to visit some relatives; the guards would not let us in, so they took us to the local party office to ask for an exception. We ended up getting jerked around for two hours or so, though the CPC officials were extremely nice and professional, before being told there is no exception. So our uncle came out in his car, we went around the corner, and piled into the trunk and sneaked in that way.
Because of the flights, my wife was stuck there an additional two months or so, which wasn’t that bad. A cousin who is a doctor was sent to work in Wuhan, and from the videos he sent it seemed like they actually had it better than we did.
There’s a huge cultural difference there; the people almost universally respect the military and law enforcement, and consider themselves responsible for their community instead of individualistic. Unlike here, where we have had a shelter-in-place order yet everyone is still outside doing whatever, having house parties, etc.
Our in-laws are mostly military, police, educators, and doctors. As a foreigner I have to go to the police and register every time I arrive; I have never been mistreated by them, in fact they are usually pretty cool and laid-back. Not all are CPC members (you can tell by a red flag pin on their shirt) and those that are usually end up promoting to higher ranks with less public interaction. Dad (in-law) was in the PLA in his younger years, and an uncle; the first time I ever met them we all sat around drinking and making jokes about communism. My wife was technically a party member, a practicing Catholic, and a CCTV journalist. My other in-laws aren’t what you’d call Christian even; they know who God is, and Jesus, and they even believe in their existence. Yet they have no clue what the Ten Commandments are, Sunday obligation, etc.
