Beijing at a standstill — Gilles Sabrié

Beijing was the first world capital to go under strict quarantine rules following the covid-19 outbreak in Wuhan. No efforts were spared to preserve the the political and cultural heart of China from the deadly epidemic. What does it look like when a city of 23 million goes to a halt?

Screen capture of a TV news anchor explaining viewers how to put on a mask. The video was playing in loop on the Beijing subway.

A near empty office and commercial compound.

Beijing sprawling new airport, empty of travellers in early February, when it should be bustling with passengers returning from the New Year break.

All shops are closed in a touristic neighbourhood devoid of visitors.

Locals walking past posters encouraging to wear masks.

A member of a neighbourhood committee keeping watch at the entrance of a hutong. Neighborhood committees, the most local level of the Communist Party, have been key in implementing the quarantine.

A member of the neighborhood committee, going door to door, registering residents, delivering resident cards and ensuring that the quarantine rules are well understood. The grid management system that allows the Communist Party to keep Chinese citiz

A checkpoint manned by members of the neighborhood committee. Only residents are allowed in and all entrants have their temperature checked.

Shoppers body temperature are screened at the entrance of a supermarket. Throughout the lockdown supermarkets and shops were fully provisioned.

Employee in Hazmat suit in a supermarket where an automated payment system has been set-up. Supermarket employees because of their repeated close contacts with customers are at high risk of being contaminated. Some supermarket took seriously the pro

At a pharmacy, a customer trying to get some medicine. many shops are not letting customers in.

Readers at a newsstand. Most of them remained closed during the quarantine. After an initial relaxation allowing for Chinese media to document the covid-19 outbreak, Beijing took control of the narrative. Independent vloggers disappeared, some artic

Railway employees dressed in hazmat suit escorting passengers out of the Beijing railway station.

few travellers at Beijing railway station.

Temperature, and residency card check at the entrance of a subway station.

A lone diner in a closed bar of neighborhood famous for its nightlife.

In March 2020, a few restaurants reopened but saw few customers as Beijingers still cautious about risks of contagion preferred to stay home.

A lone pedestrian in the deserted business district of Beijing.

Walking in the deserted business district of Beijing.

Masked soldiers marching past the closed Forbidden City.

Security guards in the empty street around the Forbidden City walls.

By mid-March some office workers started coming back to work.

After the earth shook

Benches of Tian An Men