Xi'an, 2 Jan (Xinhua) -- There are no colorful fireworks displays, no crowds of the past, and no noisy collective countdown... Xi'an, the ancient capital of Xi'an, which is battling the new crown pneumonia epidemic head-on, is quietly ushering in the New Year.
Although you can't sit face-to-face with your friends and talk about the world, cyberspace has brought everyone closer together. On the eve of New Year's Day, Hu Xiaoqing, a citizen of Xi'an, had dinner with several friends in the WeChat chat group, and an anecdotes of a family were passed to friends through the Internet, and the laughter of the family became the fun of several families.
"Eating the dinner carefully prepared by my family, holding my mobile phone and looking at the smiling faces of my friends, the feeling of raising a glass in the clouds is even more different." Hu Xiaoqing said.
The Xi'an City Wall Welcome Light Show taken on December 31. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Tao Ming
In this quieter city, there are busy corners.
At 5 a.m. on New Year's Day, Xiong Yiying, a volunteer who had worked hard all night, dragged her tired body back to her home. Together with other volunteers, she delivered food to 280 families.
"Now is the critical juncture of epidemic prevention and control, watching the community cadres and volunteers in the community busy serving everyone every day, I have no hesitation in becoming one of them and contributing to the fight against the epidemic in Xi'an." Xiong Yiying said.
On January 1, duty officers in a community on Xiaozhai East Road in Xi'an's Yanta District placed isolation railings. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Tao Ming
Since December 20, 2021, Shao Jing, vice president of Xi'an First Hospital, has led a nucleic acid testing team of 161 people to the Chanba Ecological Zone in Xi'an to conduct nucleic acid sampling.
"Nucleic acid collection is the most effective means of screening people infected with new crown pneumonia, and it is also a key part of the chain of transmission of the epidemic. The overnight work even made us forget the arrival of the New Year, and it is our greatest hope to defeat the epidemic earlier. He said.
On January 1, the police on duty ate fast food on the side of the road in the West Third Ring Road of Xi'an City. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Tao Ming
At 00:00 on New Year's Day 2022, the China-Europe Express Chang'an cross-border e-commerce special train and the first new train in 2022 set sail, carrying 50 containers full of electronic accessories and cross-border goods from Xi'an and will arrive in Mannheim, Germany.
Jia Min, on-site operation manager of Ruiang (Xi'an) International Logistics Co., Ltd., is full of expectations for this departure: "The world's high recognition of China's epidemic prevention and anti-epidemic effectiveness has allowed us to maintain the stability of the freight list, and the China-Europe Express Chang'an is the 'reassuring pill' of freight enterprises." ”
Trains race against time, sending trains of supplies to the world through the "Belt and Road"; Xi'an is also racing against time, believing that it will usher in a prosperous moment again after a short period of quiet.
Source: Xinhua News Agency