After enjoying the relative safety of China’s Zero Covid policy during 2020 and 2021 I returned after a 15-month absence. Unfortunately, I returned to a very different China. After my 7 + 3 quarantine period in early September, I entered a relatively calm Ningbo and went to work. But a few weeks later Covid began to flare up in Shanghai & Ningbo and I began a stressful period of trying to outrun lockdowns. Different cities had different testing regulations during different time periods. In Shanghai, I had to get a Covid test every day. In Ningbo, it was every three days – until the wave of Covid hit and we had to test every two days. Then the lockdowns began in the district next to mine. Then I decided to pack up and leave for Yangjiang. It was a nice two-week period during the end of September – but then it turned into a hellscape.