A beach vacation turned into an unexpected ordeal as tourists find themselves trapped in China’s latest Covid lockdown

Sanya, a city on China’s tropical Hainan island, known for its sandy shores, luxury resorts, and duty-free shopping, has long been a favorite destination for China’s middle- and upper-class families.

What was once a relaxing holiday has quickly turned into a chaotic nightmare for tens of thousands of travelers, who are now caught in a sudden lockdown triggered by authorities to contain a rapidly escalating Covid outbreak.

The outbreak, fueled by a highly contagious Omicron subvariant—blamed on interactions with overseas seafood vendors at a local fishing port—has infected over 1,200 people in Sanya since August 1, with the virus spreading to other cities and counties in Hainan, affecting more than 200 others.

This is a significant outbreak by the standards of China’s zero-Covid approach, which aims to quickly contain local flare-ups through immediate lockdowns, widespread testing, aggressive contact tracing, and quarantine measures.

On Saturday, the Sanya authorities swiftly imposed a lockdown on the city of one million residents, including approximately 80,000 tourists. Visitors wishing to depart must provide five negative Covid test results from the past week, and there was no indication of when the restrictions would end.

Public transport was suspended, residents' movement within the city was limited to emergency services, and all transportation connections were halted.

According to flight tracking service Variflight, over 80% of flights departing from Sanya were canceled on Saturday. State-run CCTV also reported that all trains leaving the city were called off.

The mass flight cancellations led to confusion and disorder at the airport, with reports indicating that some passengers who had already boarded were instructed to disembark.

A widely shared video on Chinese social media shows a local official unsuccessfully attempting to calm a group of frustrated travelers outside the airport police station.

Speaking through a megaphone, the official assured stranded travelers that the government would provide free meals and hotel accommodations, as a ring of police officers encircled him and forced back the growing crowd.

“We just want to go home! Go home! Go home!” the crowd shouted in frustration.

Unwanted stays

Since the pandemic began, China has kept its borders closed to international tourists, increasing the reliance on domestic visitors for tourist destinations like Sanya.

On Saturday, the Sanya government announced that tourists whose flights were canceled could book discounted hotel rooms. However, for some families, the mandatory week-long stay could still prove to be an expensive burden, particularly as China’s economy remains under pressure from the zero-Covid strategy.

The story quickly went viral on Chinese social media, with a hashtag related to the incident garnering 270 million views on Weibo by Monday afternoon. While many expressed sympathy for the affected family, others questioned why they hadn’t opted for a more affordable hotel. Following the backlash, the family clarified that they had found cheaper food options at their hotel.

Other tourists stuck in Sanya took to social media to accuse some hotels of raising prices to take advantage of the forced stays. In response, the Sanya government pledged to investigate the complaints during a press conference on Sunday.

Officials confirmed that over 3,200 tourists stranded at the airport on Saturday would receive seven days of accommodation and meals. Additionally, about 5,000 workers were dispatched from across the country to assist with a mass Covid testing initiative in Hainan.

When will it end?

For many tourists trapped in the city, the biggest worry is whether they’ll be allowed to leave after seven days. They fear that if infections continue to rise despite the measures, the lockdown could be extended.

With schools in China scheduled to reopen in three weeks and some companies unlikely to permit extended remote work, the pressure on stranded tourists is mounting.

On Monday, all 418 flights at Sanya airport were canceled, according to data from flight-tracking platform Variflight.

Among those stranded were Shanghai residents who had traveled to Hainan for a summer break after enduring a harsh two-month lockdown in the Chinese financial hub earlier this year.

A foreign resident of Shanghai, who arrived in Sanya on July 26, shared that he had to leave his hotel last Thursday when it was requisitioned by local authorities for quarantine purposes. He was given only a day's notice and had to find alternative accommodation on his own.

Over the past five days, he reported waiting in long lines to take six separate Covid tests.

“This situation is becoming unsustainable,” said the tourist, who chose to remain anonymous due to concerns about nationalistic backlash. “It feels a bit like Russian roulette, not knowing whether the place you’re in will suddenly be locked down.”

For many travelers aware of the country’s Covid restrictions, Hainan was once seen as a relatively safe destination, given its historically low number of reported cases.

Other popular tourist spots have also faced sudden lockdowns. Last month, more than 2,000 tourists were trapped in Beihai, a resort town in southern China, after a lockdown was imposed in response to 500 new infections.