Saying goodbye to 2022 in Nanjing, and indeed in all of China, can be seen as being punctuated by the dramatic turn in the fortunes dealt our way by the year’s final weeks. It’s a turnaround begging reflection, perhaps more so than any other year, for good, bad or indifferent.
It may be surreal to consider these words now, with the world coughing and sniffing all around, but cast your mind back to March of this year, when the prospect of district or city-wide lockdowns loomed as a constant in our daily lives. What was responsible? A few score cases of COVID, of course. Gyms, libraries, museums, cultural centres, art galleries, monuments and other cultural venues found themselves shuttered. Schools moved to online learning once again and parts of the Nanjing Metro were completely shut down.
Once again though, we prevailed. But while everything else gradually opened up, there was still one big closure to come. With hindsight, perhaps it could have been seen as the beginning of the end, confirmation of the fact there will one day be a time after COVID. After putting 920,000 jabs into Nanjingers’ arms, almost 10 percent of the city’s population, it was the second week of June which saw the Wutaishan Sports Centre in Nanjing close out its role as a mass vaccination site.
Once again, we hoped we were finally COVID clear, and many decided to head south for a summer holiday. Some will perhaps not remember 2022 so fondly, being among the thousands of Nanjingers who were to end up being stranded in Sanya, many for several weeks, before evacuation flights in a “closed loop” finally brought them home to face quarantine.
It was a hot, hot summer in 2022, the hottest on record by some measures. While another reason for almost everyone to stay home with the blinds down and the air-conditioning on full, it also inevitably led to fire. On 9 August, the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge experienced its first serious structural accident in its 74-year history. Very possibly the result of the 2022 heatwave, it was a high-tension wire which caught fire adjacent to steel supports for the railway line. But Nanjing’s first responders got to work and within 2 hours, the blaze was extinguished and train services resumed operation.
It took a little longer to deal with Nanjing’s other headline fire of 2022, however. A full day in fact, when the knock-off paradise known as Jinsheng Mall went up in flames. Initially thought to be not-so serious, firefighters and equipment ended up being called in from the nearby cities of Wuxi, Changzhou and Yangzhou. When it was finally over, over 1,000 independent stores spread over five floors were all but a thing of the past.
On a happier note, in the world where sport and celebrity meet, three feel-good stories emerged in 2022 with links to our city.
Nanjing Normal University alumni, Wang Jianan, took gold in the men’s long jump at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Oregon, USA, in July. It was China’s first gold in the 2022 Championships and its first ever gold in the Championships’ long jump discipline. A 2018 graduate from the “Nanshida” School of Physical Education, in the eyes of his younger peers, Wang was seen as a positive and optimistic big brother.
There were also wedding bells before the month was out, with pride of Nanjing, volleyball player, Zhang Changning, marrying basketball player, Wu Guanxi, on 30 July. Given her and her husband’s height, some seriously tall bridesmaids were called for, an easy call for Zhang who simply rallied her fellow volleyball players. Zhang, nicknamed Baby Face, was on the Chinese women’s volleyball team which won the 2015 and 2019 World Cup, as well as gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Basketball legend and CBA President, Yao Ming, advised the groom to “keep your children in basketball, not volleyball”.
But the sporting event of the year was of course the Winter Olympics in and around Beijing. There, the Chinese nation’s pride could hardly have been more evident, as Gu Ailing (Eileen Gu) captured hearts, minds and a gold, and silver medal. Here in the Southern Capital, we also rejoiced in her victory, with the revelation that Gu’s grandmother is a bonafide Nanjinger. Gu has said that thanks to her grandmother, she not only found a love of sports, but also a woman’s strength and determination.
Before Gu’s historic wins, China taking home its first gold medal of the Games also lit a fire in many a Nanjinger, prompting them to try out the ice for themselves. And in record numbers. It was long queues and “skating room only” at Nanjing’s Olympic Centre. For the overwhelming majority, it was their first time, but it was also a sure-fire, knock-on effect of China’s win and a supporting of Beijing’s wishes that 300 million of its citizens participate in winter sports.
And enabling them to do just that as Nanjing begins to warm up in 2023 might be one of the many flights to farther afield which began operating this year, some old, some brand new. Again, the development now seems to have been indicative of normality around the corner. Closing out 2022, Nanjing now offers daily flights to Hong Kong, five flights per week to Macau and weekly, or thereabout, flights to a host of other destinations, including Hanoi, Jakarta, Osaka, Seoul, Singapore, Tokyo and even Milan in Italy. Expect many more as 2023 takes hold.
As for our International community, our city’s two largest international schools both had reason to celebrate in 2022. For Nanjing International School, it was their long awaited 30th anniversary. From a handful of students in rented classrooms at the outset, to becoming one of the finest schools in all of China today, NIS, its students and their families, together with faculty and staff, celebrated in style this October.
Style was also the watchword the month prior, but that of a different era, as the British School of Nanjing put their muscle behind the second British Ball to raise funds for two good cases. With the theme of Downton Abbey, hundreds turned out to look the part, eat, drink, dance and gamble the night away. When it was all over, the total of ¥240,000 raised was split equally between local charities, Hopeful Hearts and the Rainbow Centre.
Lastly, and back in the air, what of this humble publication? The Nanjinger clocked up its 12th anniversary in 2022 and celebrated its flagship publication being selected to be part of the inflight entertainment on every flight of China Airlines, operating out of their home base of Taipei in Taiwan. Guess where we will be first off to next year, if only to read our city’s very own English magazine in the air!
