Self-Quarantine in Beijing: Episode 1, Turning In
I’ve been illustrating this “Self-Quarantine in Beijing” series since the beginning of last month. These drawings have helped me put up with an otherwise strikingly boring routine. This is the first of a series of episodes about life in China during the coronavirus outbreak.
Hi, I’m Donal. Just Donal.
你好，我叫大拿
Nǐ hǎo, wǒ jiào dà ná
Self-quarantine can be tough on the nerves. But one can always turn to dreams:
Crane soaring over Chinese Landscape
No one knows where this epidemic is leading, whether it’ll become a global pandemic, or when daily life will return to normal.
“Smog”
Solitude
But self-quarantine is an opportunity to explore one’s creativity.
I went to Sanlitun Dirty Bar Street, which no longer exists, then to the Temple of Heaven, where the trees smiled at me. I flew to Sichuan to see the Sleeping Buddha, then biked back to Beijing along a moonlit path:
The power of imagination
I reshaped my room. Now in order to get to the kitchen I need to pass by a chain of mountains, cross a bridge, and dodge Pac-Man. But I am quite surprised when, at the end of the day, my phone screen shows I’ve only made 283 steps:
283 steps
It can get lonely at times, like during Valentine’s Day.
When “self-care” is taken too far
And at times, thought itself is a disease:
Corona-donal
Thoughts can turn nasty, especially when they’re given space to fester. We have to do our best to stay vigilant against the darker forces inside our minds.
Thought Bat-tle
We have to try our best, which includes keeping perspective and a sense of humor.
Am I too Yin?
Many of the thermal guns used in malls, restaurants, etc. don’t seem to properly register our temperatures.
Has self-quarantine for a month turned me into a cold-blooded creature?
Self-Quarantine in Beijing is a series of illustrations by Donal Turner. Episode 2 is here:
