While the rest of the world falls into the deep pessimism typical of the early stages of the pandemic – just like those of us living in China experienced 5-6 weeks ago – and conversations are filled with apocalyptical imagery and doom-laden projections, it is worth recognizing...

...that in a few weeks, if the Chinese experience is anything to go by, a lot of the gloom and dread will have worn off and we will all go back to talking about normal things. Today, for example, most of the team at Maybe Mars – China’s biggest indie label, which I founded 12...

...years ago and whose office is still in my house – was back at work, led by Yang Haisong, on the left, one of the most important musicians and producers in the Chinese indie scene. They were all in great spirits and you can see that in the office none of them is wearing a...

...mask.

In many ways today seemed as normal a day as possible when I left my house at rush hour to do my food shopping. The streets were full of people and there were nine people waiting in line at the famous local chestnut shop (although the neighborhood liquor store still...

...does not allow customers to enter -- see below). We are not back to normal on street traffic but we’re pretty close. Other forms of transportation were still far behind, but getting better. The subway was, like on Monday, roughly half full, with six people on the escalator...

...with me (last week only 2) and 48 people in my car. Buses had more riders than last week, with perhaps 20 or more on average.

In the Sanlitun shopping area there were more people than ever wandering around. I saw 19 people in Starbucks when I got my coffee there, which is...

...the largest crowd I’ve seen in months (see left), and the Apple store, as usual, is seeing more and more customers (se right). Except for these, food shop, and cafes, however, most of the other shops were open but still empty. I did see an occasional customer in one or two...

...shops, unlike in the past, but it is going to take a while before shopping revives as a competitive sport in China.

In Wechat people are making jokes again and planning for the future, although all of us with friends abroad are still worried. My friend Shouwang has been...

...sending packages of masks to friends in Spain, but while the first package got there four days after it was sent, the second package, sent three days later, is supposed to take a month. We are trying to send additional packages to friends in England and the US, but are...

...not terribly optimistic about the transit time.

The pandemic feels like it is well behind us, kids are outside, school starts this month in many places, but unfortunately I am sure we're going to spend the next few months dealing with the shock of the economic impact.