Shanghai residents eager for a drink as they prepare for lockdown lift

After more than a month of lockdown, China’s largest city is finally preparing to cautiously alleviate restrictions, and some residents have built up quite a thirst.

It was theoretically supposed to last for just five days, ending in early April, but Shanghai has been under strictly controlled lockdown for six weeks now in order to contain the spread of the Omicron variant.

With nearly 25 million residents of the city confined to their homes, thoughts have unsurprisingly turned to certain freedoms they are eager to enjoy again:

“Shanghai summer is here! And we still can’t go out. All I want is to enjoy a beer with my friends. How is everyone else doing?” Shanghai resident @MattMarsdenn tweeted on 7 May.

There has also been a sense of frustration that, with bars and restaurants closed, alcohol deliveries have also been restricted:

“All of us in Shanghai should be able to give whoever determined that beer/booze was “non-essential” and shouldn’t be deliverable during this lockdown one kick in the nuts, each,” stated The History of China podcast (@thocpodcast) on Twitter.

Others have suggested they’ve had no issues having alcohol delivered to their residences, and one reply offered a hack to get drinks delivered without attracting undue attention:

“My beer is coming in an unmarked box labelled ‘seasonings’ – soy sauce is essential, right?” said Twitter user @Shinpath.

The lockdown has resulted in widespread shortages as there has not been enough manpower to handle deliveries through what is the world’s largest container port. Residents have taken to remotely organising group orders of essential food and medicine, due to the logistical challenges that come with complete reliance on deliveries.

Delivery riders have borne the brunt of this lockdown. The BBC reported that residential compounds have been preventing couriers from returning to their homes, forcing many to sleep rough while continuing to carry out essential deliveries.

But there are still those who have been able to profit from the lockdown, despite officials stating that they had clamped down on price gouging. Global Capital Asia reports of a delivery man, known simply as “Booze Guy”, who is said to be selling alcohol across the city from his own personal supply.

Although Shanghai is set to undergo a drawn out process of reopening as Covid-19 cases fall, Beijing on the other hand could well be headed for total lockdown.

Diageo China has been sending out care packages to its employees, including alcohol, but there have been fears within the industry that the lockdown in the Chinese city with the largest GDP has caused significant damage to the luxury sector.