“In the years since Xi Jinping came to power, China’s policies have become increasingly strict, the economy is not doing well … and (his) dictatorship is only getting worse,” Wang told CNN. “He’s just another version of Mao Zedong,” Wang added, referring to the founder of Communist China who built a cult of personality around him and ruled until his death in 1976. “Xi is going to get another term soon — and may even stay in power indefinitely. I don’t see any hope.” As China’s most powerful leader in decades, Xi is widely expected to secure an unprecedented third term in a major political meeting this autumn. He vowed to achieve the nation’s “great rejuvenation,” envisioning a China that would rival — if not surpass — the West in power and strength. Under Xi, the ruling Communist Party has touted its political model as superior to Western democracies, citing Beijing’s ability to quickly stamp out Covid outbreaks as further evidence that China is on the rise and the US is in decline. Meanwhile, Chinese state media relentlessly highlighted racial inequality, gun violence and political polarization as evidence of American origins. But the growing popularity of the running philosophy — and trips to the U.S. by Wang and others — are a stark rejection of that narrative, showing that many Chinese do not believe in Xi’s promise to make China great again.
“I want to go”
Most students of the philosophy of running come from middle- and upper-class Chinese families with the means to immigrate legally, either through education, work, or investment. But Wang, who ran a bubble tea shop in an economic backwater in eastern China, says he has neither the money nor the skills to seek school or work in the US. After graduating from a vocational high school in 2008, Wang worked in graphic design for a few years in the eastern province of Zhejiang. Frustrated by low wages and stagnant career growth, he switched to online retail, leading a boom in China’s internet sector. As the industry grew, competition became fierce and profits declined. Wang quit in 2020 and returned to his hometown to open a bubble tea shop with a friend. Until then, China had adopted a relentless zero-Covid policy, based on sweeping surveillance of its 1.4 billion citizens, mass testing, extensive quarantines and emergency lockdowns — even when few cases were detected. Wang’s business was hit hard by the restrictions. “I couldn’t make ends meet and I have two children to raise,” said Wang, who is divorced. “I don’t want to be in lockdown. I want to leave.” It was not the first time Wang had considered leaving China. He said he first had the idea more than a decade ago, shortly after he learned to bypass China’s Internet censorship system and read about the 1989 Tiananmen massacre online. “I had my political awakening around 20. I knew the Communist Party was unreliable,” he said. But his work, marriage and family life kept him busy, and Wang didn’t go out of his way to look for opportunities to emigrate. “Now that I’m divorced, I don’t have the burden anymore. I decided to go alone and leave my two children with my parents,” he said, adding that he hoped his children could join him later. Wang set his sights on one destination – America. He had never been out of China, nor did he speak English, but said he learned about the U.S. from TV shows and movies. “My impression of the United States is that it is a free, democratic, open and vibrant country. You can accumulate wealth through your own hard work,” he said.
Treacherous journey over land and water
Leaving China in the era of zero Covid is not easy.
Since early 2020, China has kept its borders largely sealed to keep the coronavirus out — an effort that looks increasingly futile in the face of the highly infectious Omicron variant.
The Chinese government has also banned citizens from going abroad for “non-essential” reasons. Travel is permitted only to resume work, study, business and scientific research or to seek medical treatment.
Beijing says the ban is intended to reduce the spread of Covid, but many in China see it as a way to make immigration more difficult.
Through online chat groups, Wang discovered a network of people in China who were planning to illegally immigrate to America via the South American nation of Ecuador.
He applied to a language school in Ecuador’s capital, Quito, and used the school’s admission letter to apply for a passport. Officials initially rejected his application, but eventually gave Wang his passport after he submitted a series of supporting documents.
Wang managed to get out of China in April and kept his family in the dark. “I told them I would look for a job in Zhejiang again. I didn’t want them to worry about me while I was on the road,” he said.
Wang Qun takes a boat from Colombia to Panama with other immigrants.
Wang took two flight stops to get to Quito, from where he bused more than 1,000 miles to a coastal city in Colombia. He then took a boat to Panama with dozens of other migrants. He was thrilled by the ride, taking a selfie video with passengers sitting behind him, who laughed, cheered and gave thumbs up.
But the journey ahead nearly broke him from exhaustion. Wang spent three days trekking through the dense rainforest of Panama, wading through mud, wading through rivers and climbing over rocks. “It was so painful. I felt like a walking corpse and at one point, after 12 hours of walking, I thought I was going to die,” he said.
Migrants cross a river in the Panamanian rainforest.
Coming out of the jungle, Wang took a canoe headed for a refugee camp. En route, the boat leaked water and nearly capsized, forcing Wang and other passengers to frantically bail out the water.
In the camp, Wang found refugees from all over the world. From there he spent seven days on buses to Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala, then took another boat ride to the Mexican border, where he was arrested by police for illegal entry.
Five days later, Wang was released and told to leave Mexico within 20 days. He then paid a smuggler thousands of dollars to get to Mexico City. He was crammed into the back of a truck with dozens of migrants, so crowded he could barely move or stretch his legs — then into a hot van with two dozen other people, with sealed windows and no air conditioning.
Dozens of migrants are crammed into the back of a truck headed for Mexico City.
It was over 104 degrees Fahrenheit inside the van, Wang said, and as sweat poured out of him, he struggled to breathe.
In Mexico City, he bought a motorcycle and rode 1,600 miles to the US border with a Chinese immigrant he met along the way, first on the coast and then in the desert.
Watching the sun set on the coast one night, Wang felt a thrill. “My dear family on the other side of the ocean, I don’t know if I still have a chance to come back in the rest of my life. Mom, dad and kids, I miss you so much,” she wrote. on Twitter.
When CNN met Wang in Mexicali near the US border on June 4, he appeared relaxed and calm. While the journey was more treacherous than he expected, Wang said it was worth it.
“I want my children to get a better education,” he said, adding that the patriotic education taught in Chinese schools had “brainwashed” his children.
“I don’t want to be oppressed. I want freedom,” he said.
Wang Qun’s journey from Panama to Mexico.
One of many desperate migrants
Wang’s journey to America may be rare and extreme, but he is not alone in taking the treacherous path. CNN spoke to other Chinese nationals trying to immigrate to the US illegally, including a man who escaped China in June by crossing the border into Vietnam. From there, he flew to Ecuador and followed the same route as Wang to the US-Mexico border. He said he almost died in the Panamanian rainforest and now he has arrived in Mexico City. According to the UN Refugee Agency, the number of Chinese nationals seeking asylum has risen nearly eightfold in the decade since Xi took office, reaching nearly 120,000 in 2021 — with about 75% of them to seek asylum in America. On China’s internet, searches for “migration” began to soar in March as many struggled to get basic necessities and food during nationwide lockdowns. Discussion forums with detailed advice on how to leave China have gone viral on social media, and immigration lawyers say inquiries from Chinese people wanting to leave have increased during the pandemic. “Inquiries are many hundreds of times what they were before,” said Edward Lehman, a Shanghai-based immigration lawyer. Ying Cao, an immigration lawyer in New York, said that in 1949 hundreds of millions of people left China in fear of the new government. “Now we feel there is a similar fear,” he said. Responding to CNN’s request for comment, China’s Foreign Ministry defended the country’s policies on Covid and called China a “land full of vitality and hope.”
A new life in America
The day after he spoke to CNN in Mexicali, Wang rode his motorcycle into the hills, then began hiking on a path heading north until he came across a metal wire half-trampled on the ground. He didn’t pay much attention and pressed it immediately. It wasn’t until 10 minutes later that he realized the wire marked the border and smiled with relief — he had finally reached America. He walked for hours in the wilderness, on terrain so steep and strenuous that his sneakers fell apart. He was then handed over to border control and, after spending a few days in custody, was released pending a hearing…
title: “Zero Covid China One Man S Epic Journey Across Continents In Search Of The American Dream Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-03” author: “Amy Bigelow”
“In the years since Xi Jinping came to power, China’s policies have become increasingly strict, the economy is not doing well … and (his) dictatorship is only getting worse,” Wang told CNN. “He’s just another version of Mao Zedong,” Wang added, referring to the founder of Communist China who built a cult of personality around him and ruled until his death in 1976. “Xi is going to get another term soon — and may even stay in power indefinitely. I don’t see any hope.” As China’s most powerful leader in decades, Xi is widely expected to secure an unprecedented third term in a major political meeting this autumn. He vowed to achieve the nation’s “great rejuvenation,” envisioning a China that would rival — if not surpass — the West in power and strength. Under Xi, the ruling Communist Party has touted its political model as superior to Western democracies, citing Beijing’s ability to quickly stamp out Covid outbreaks as further evidence that China is on the rise and the US is in decline. Meanwhile, Chinese state media relentlessly highlighted racial inequality, gun violence and political polarization as evidence of American origins. But the growing popularity of the running philosophy — and trips to the U.S. by Wang and others — are a stark rejection of that narrative, showing that many Chinese do not believe in Xi’s promise to make China great again.
“I want to go”
Most students of the philosophy of running come from middle- and upper-class Chinese families with the means to immigrate legally, either through education, work, or investment. But Wang, who ran a bubble tea shop in an economic backwater in eastern China, says he has neither the money nor the skills to seek school or work in the US. After graduating from a vocational high school in 2008, Wang worked in graphic design for a few years in the eastern province of Zhejiang. Frustrated by low wages and stagnant career growth, he switched to online retail, leading a boom in China’s internet sector. As the industry grew, competition became fierce and profits declined. Wang quit in 2020 and returned to his hometown to open a bubble tea shop with a friend. Until then, China had adopted a relentless zero-Covid policy, based on sweeping surveillance of its 1.4 billion citizens, mass testing, extensive quarantines and emergency lockdowns — even when few cases were detected. Wang’s business was hit hard by the restrictions. “I couldn’t make ends meet and I have two children to raise,” said Wang, who is divorced. “I don’t want to be in lockdown. I want to leave.” It was not the first time Wang had considered leaving China. He said he first had the idea more than a decade ago, shortly after he learned to bypass China’s Internet censorship system and read about the 1989 Tiananmen massacre online. “I had my political awakening around 20. I knew the Communist Party was unreliable,” he said. But his work, marriage and family life kept him busy, and Wang didn’t go out of his way to look for opportunities to emigrate. “Now that I’m divorced, I don’t have the burden anymore. I decided to go alone and leave my two children with my parents,” he said, adding that he hoped his children could join him later. Wang set his sights on one destination – America. He had never been out of China, nor did he speak English, but said he learned about the U.S. from TV shows and movies. “My impression of the United States is that it is a free, democratic, open and vibrant country. You can accumulate wealth through your own hard work,” he said.
Treacherous journey over land and water
Leaving China in the era of zero Covid is not easy.
Since early 2020, China has kept its borders largely sealed to keep the coronavirus out — an effort that looks increasingly futile in the face of the highly infectious Omicron variant.
The Chinese government has also banned citizens from going abroad for “non-essential” reasons. Travel is permitted only to resume work, study, business and scientific research or to seek medical treatment.
Beijing says the ban is intended to reduce the spread of Covid, but many in China see it as a way to make immigration more difficult.
Through online chat groups, Wang discovered a network of people in China who were planning to illegally immigrate to America via the South American nation of Ecuador.
He applied to a language school in Ecuador’s capital, Quito, and used the school’s admission letter to apply for a passport. Officials initially rejected his application, but eventually gave Wang his passport after he submitted a series of supporting documents.
Wang managed to get out of China in April and kept his family in the dark. “I told them I would look for a job in Zhejiang again. I didn’t want them to worry about me while I was on the road,” he said.
Wang Qun takes a boat from Colombia to Panama with other immigrants.
Wang took two flight stops to get to Quito, from where he bused more than 1,000 miles to a coastal city in Colombia. He then took a boat to Panama with dozens of other migrants. He was thrilled by the ride, taking a selfie video with passengers sitting behind him, who laughed, cheered and gave thumbs up.
But the journey ahead nearly broke him from exhaustion. Wang spent three days trekking through the dense rainforest of Panama, wading through mud, wading through rivers and climbing over rocks. “It was so painful. I felt like a walking corpse and at one point, after 12 hours of walking, I thought I was going to die,” he said.
Migrants cross a river in the Panamanian rainforest.
Coming out of the jungle, Wang took a canoe headed for a refugee camp. En route, the boat leaked water and nearly capsized, forcing Wang and other passengers to frantically bail out the water.
In the camp, Wang found refugees from all over the world. From there he spent seven days on buses to Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala, then took another boat ride to the Mexican border, where he was arrested by police for illegal entry.
Five days later, Wang was released and told to leave Mexico within 20 days. He then paid a smuggler thousands of dollars to get to Mexico City. He was crammed into the back of a truck with dozens of migrants, so crowded he could barely move or stretch his legs — then into a hot van with two dozen other people, with sealed windows and no air conditioning.
Dozens of migrants are crammed into the back of a truck headed for Mexico City.
It was over 104 degrees Fahrenheit inside the van, Wang said, and as sweat poured out of him, he struggled to breathe.
In Mexico City, he bought a motorcycle and rode 1,600 miles to the US border with a Chinese immigrant he met along the way, first on the coast and then in the desert.
Watching the sun set on the coast one night, Wang felt a thrill. “My dear family on the other side of the ocean, I don’t know if I still have a chance to come back in the rest of my life. Mom, dad and kids, I miss you so much,” she wrote. on Twitter.
When CNN met Wang in Mexicali near the US border on June 4, he appeared relaxed and calm. While the journey was more treacherous than he expected, Wang said it was worth it.
“I want my children to get a better education,” he said, adding that the patriotic education taught in Chinese schools had “brainwashed” his children.
“I don’t want to be oppressed. I want freedom,” he said.
Wang Qun’s journey from Panama to Mexico.
One of many desperate migrants
Wang’s journey to America may be rare and extreme, but he is not alone in taking the treacherous path. CNN spoke to other Chinese nationals trying to immigrate to the US illegally, including a man who escaped China in June by crossing the border into Vietnam. From there, he flew to Ecuador and followed the same route as Wang to the US-Mexico border. He said he almost died in the Panamanian rainforest and now he has arrived in Mexico City. According to the UN Refugee Agency, the number of Chinese nationals seeking asylum has risen nearly eightfold in the decade since Xi took office, reaching nearly 120,000 in 2021 — with about 75% of them to seek asylum in America. On China’s internet, searches for “migration” began to soar in March as many struggled to get basic necessities and food during nationwide lockdowns. Discussion forums with detailed advice on how to leave China have gone viral on social media, and immigration lawyers say inquiries from Chinese people wanting to leave have increased during the pandemic. “Inquiries are many hundreds of times what they were before,” said Edward Lehman, a Shanghai-based immigration lawyer. Ying Cao, an immigration lawyer in New York, said that in 1949 hundreds of millions of people left China in fear of the new government. “Now we feel there is a similar fear,” he said. Responding to CNN’s request for comment, China’s Foreign Ministry defended the country’s policies on Covid and called China a “land full of vitality and hope.”
A new life in America
The day after he spoke to CNN in Mexicali, Wang rode his motorcycle into the hills, then began hiking on a path heading north until he came across a metal wire half-trampled on the ground. He didn’t pay much attention and pressed it immediately. It wasn’t until 10 minutes later that he realized the wire marked the border and smiled with relief — he had finally reached America. He walked for hours in the wilderness, on terrain so steep and strenuous that his sneakers fell apart. He was then handed over to border control and, after spending a few days in custody, was released pending a hearing…
title: “Zero Covid China One Man S Epic Journey Across Continents In Search Of The American Dream Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-18” author: “Alberta Keith”
“In the years since Xi Jinping came to power, China’s policies have become increasingly strict, the economy is not doing well … and (his) dictatorship is only getting worse,” Wang told CNN. “He’s just another version of Mao Zedong,” Wang added, referring to the founder of Communist China who built a cult of personality around him and ruled until his death in 1976. “Xi is going to get another term soon — and may even stay in power indefinitely. I don’t see any hope.” As China’s most powerful leader in decades, Xi is widely expected to secure an unprecedented third term in a major political meeting this autumn. He vowed to achieve the nation’s “great rejuvenation,” envisioning a China that would rival — if not surpass — the West in power and strength. Under Xi, the ruling Communist Party has touted its political model as superior to Western democracies, citing Beijing’s ability to quickly stamp out Covid outbreaks as further evidence that China is on the rise and the US is in decline. Meanwhile, Chinese state media relentlessly highlighted racial inequality, gun violence and political polarization as evidence of American origins. But the growing popularity of the running philosophy — and trips to the U.S. by Wang and others — are a stark rejection of that narrative, showing that many Chinese do not believe in Xi’s promise to make China great again.
“I want to go”
Most students of the philosophy of running come from middle- and upper-class Chinese families with the means to immigrate legally, either through education, work, or investment. But Wang, who ran a bubble tea shop in an economic backwater in eastern China, says he has neither the money nor the skills to seek school or work in the US. After graduating from a vocational high school in 2008, Wang worked in graphic design for a few years in the eastern province of Zhejiang. Frustrated by low wages and stagnant career growth, he switched to online retail, leading a boom in China’s internet sector. As the industry grew, competition became fierce and profits declined. Wang quit in 2020 and returned to his hometown to open a bubble tea shop with a friend. Until then, China had adopted a relentless zero-Covid policy, based on sweeping surveillance of its 1.4 billion citizens, mass testing, extensive quarantines and emergency lockdowns — even when few cases were detected. Wang’s business was hit hard by the restrictions. “I couldn’t make ends meet and I have two children to raise,” said Wang, who is divorced. “I don’t want to be in lockdown. I want to leave.” It was not the first time Wang had considered leaving China. He said he first had the idea more than a decade ago, shortly after he learned to bypass China’s Internet censorship system and read about the 1989 Tiananmen massacre online. “I had my political awakening around 20. I knew the Communist Party was unreliable,” he said. But his work, marriage and family life kept him busy, and Wang didn’t go out of his way to look for opportunities to emigrate. “Now that I’m divorced, I don’t have the burden anymore. I decided to go alone and leave my two children with my parents,” he said, adding that he hoped his children could join him later. Wang set his sights on one destination – America. He had never been out of China, nor did he speak English, but said he learned about the U.S. from TV shows and movies. “My impression of the United States is that it is a free, democratic, open and vibrant country. You can accumulate wealth through your own hard work,” he said.
Treacherous journey over land and water
Leaving China in the era of zero Covid is not easy.
Since early 2020, China has kept its borders largely sealed to keep the coronavirus out — an effort that looks increasingly futile in the face of the highly infectious Omicron variant.
The Chinese government has also banned citizens from going abroad for “non-essential” reasons. Travel is permitted only to resume work, study, business and scientific research or to seek medical treatment.
Beijing says the ban is intended to reduce the spread of Covid, but many in China see it as a way to make immigration more difficult.
Through online chat groups, Wang discovered a network of people in China who were planning to illegally immigrate to America via the South American nation of Ecuador.
He applied to a language school in Ecuador’s capital, Quito, and used the school’s admission letter to apply for a passport. Officials initially rejected his application, but eventually gave Wang his passport after he submitted a series of supporting documents.
Wang managed to get out of China in April and kept his family in the dark. “I told them I would look for a job in Zhejiang again. I didn’t want them to worry about me while I was on the road,” he said.
Wang Qun takes a boat from Colombia to Panama with other immigrants.
Wang took two flight stops to get to Quito, from where he bused more than 1,000 miles to a coastal city in Colombia. He then took a boat to Panama with dozens of other migrants. He was thrilled by the ride, taking a selfie video with passengers sitting behind him, who laughed, cheered and gave thumbs up.
But the journey ahead nearly broke him from exhaustion. Wang spent three days trekking through the dense rainforest of Panama, wading through mud, wading through rivers and climbing over rocks. “It was so painful. I felt like a walking corpse and at one point, after 12 hours of walking, I thought I was going to die,” he said.
Migrants cross a river in the Panamanian rainforest.
Coming out of the jungle, Wang took a canoe headed for a refugee camp. En route, the boat leaked water and nearly capsized, forcing Wang and other passengers to frantically bail out the water.
In the camp, Wang found refugees from all over the world. From there he spent seven days on buses to Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala, then took another boat ride to the Mexican border, where he was arrested by police for illegal entry.
Five days later, Wang was released and told to leave Mexico within 20 days. He then paid a smuggler thousands of dollars to get to Mexico City. He was crammed into the back of a truck with dozens of migrants, so crowded he could barely move or stretch his legs — then into a hot van with two dozen other people, with sealed windows and no air conditioning.
Dozens of migrants are crammed into the back of a truck headed for Mexico City.
It was over 104 degrees Fahrenheit inside the van, Wang said, and as sweat poured out of him, he struggled to breathe.
In Mexico City, he bought a motorcycle and rode 1,600 miles to the US border with a Chinese immigrant he met along the way, first on the coast and then in the desert.
Watching the sun set on the coast one night, Wang felt a thrill. “My dear family on the other side of the ocean, I don’t know if I still have a chance to come back in the rest of my life. Mom, dad and kids, I miss you so much,” she wrote. on Twitter.
When CNN met Wang in Mexicali near the US border on June 4, he appeared relaxed and calm. While the journey was more treacherous than he expected, Wang said it was worth it.
“I want my children to get a better education,” he said, adding that the patriotic education taught in Chinese schools had “brainwashed” his children.
“I don’t want to be oppressed. I want freedom,” he said.
Wang Qun’s journey from Panama to Mexico.
One of many desperate migrants
Wang’s journey to America may be rare and extreme, but he is not alone in taking the treacherous path. CNN spoke to other Chinese nationals trying to immigrate to the US illegally, including a man who escaped China in June by crossing the border into Vietnam. From there, he flew to Ecuador and followed the same route as Wang to the US-Mexico border. He said he almost died in the Panamanian rainforest and now he has arrived in Mexico City. According to the UN Refugee Agency, the number of Chinese nationals seeking asylum has risen nearly eightfold in the decade since Xi took office, reaching nearly 120,000 in 2021 — with about 75% of them to seek asylum in America. On China’s internet, searches for “migration” began to soar in March as many struggled to get basic necessities and food during nationwide lockdowns. Discussion forums with detailed advice on how to leave China have gone viral on social media, and immigration lawyers say inquiries from Chinese people wanting to leave have increased during the pandemic. “Inquiries are many hundreds of times what they were before,” said Edward Lehman, a Shanghai-based immigration lawyer. Ying Cao, an immigration lawyer in New York, said that in 1949 hundreds of millions of people left China in fear of the new government. “Now we feel there is a similar fear,” he said. Responding to CNN’s request for comment, China’s Foreign Ministry defended the country’s policies on Covid and called China a “land full of vitality and hope.”
A new life in America
The day after he spoke to CNN in Mexicali, Wang rode his motorcycle into the hills, then began hiking on a path heading north until he came across a metal wire half-trampled on the ground. He didn’t pay much attention and pressed it immediately. It wasn’t until 10 minutes later that he realized the wire marked the border and smiled with relief — he had finally reached America. He walked for hours in the wilderness, on terrain so steep and strenuous that his sneakers fell apart. He was then handed over to border control and, after spending a few days in custody, was released pending a hearing…
title: “Zero Covid China One Man S Epic Journey Across Continents In Search Of The American Dream Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-10-22” author: “Ernest Kelley”
“In the years since Xi Jinping came to power, China’s policies have become increasingly strict, the economy is not doing well … and (his) dictatorship is only getting worse,” Wang told CNN. “He’s just another version of Mao Zedong,” Wang added, referring to the founder of Communist China who built a cult of personality around him and ruled until his death in 1976. “Xi is going to get another term soon — and may even stay in power indefinitely. I don’t see any hope.” As China’s most powerful leader in decades, Xi is widely expected to secure an unprecedented third term in a major political meeting this autumn. He vowed to achieve the nation’s “great rejuvenation,” envisioning a China that would rival — if not surpass — the West in power and strength. Under Xi, the ruling Communist Party has touted its political model as superior to Western democracies, citing Beijing’s ability to quickly stamp out Covid outbreaks as further evidence that China is on the rise and the US is in decline. Meanwhile, Chinese state media relentlessly highlighted racial inequality, gun violence and political polarization as evidence of American origins. But the growing popularity of the running philosophy — and trips to the U.S. by Wang and others — are a stark rejection of that narrative, showing that many Chinese do not believe in Xi’s promise to make China great again.
“I want to go”
Most students of the philosophy of running come from middle- and upper-class Chinese families with the means to immigrate legally, either through education, work, or investment. But Wang, who ran a bubble tea shop in an economic backwater in eastern China, says he has neither the money nor the skills to seek school or work in the US. After graduating from a vocational high school in 2008, Wang worked in graphic design for a few years in the eastern province of Zhejiang. Frustrated by low wages and stagnant career growth, he switched to online retail, leading a boom in China’s internet sector. As the industry grew, competition became fierce and profits declined. Wang quit in 2020 and returned to his hometown to open a bubble tea shop with a friend. Until then, China had adopted a relentless zero-Covid policy, based on sweeping surveillance of its 1.4 billion citizens, mass testing, extensive quarantines and emergency lockdowns — even when few cases were detected. Wang’s business was hit hard by the restrictions. “I couldn’t make ends meet and I have two children to raise,” said Wang, who is divorced. “I don’t want to be in lockdown. I want to leave.” It was not the first time Wang had considered leaving China. He said he first had the idea more than a decade ago, shortly after he learned to bypass China’s Internet censorship system and read about the 1989 Tiananmen massacre online. “I had my political awakening around 20. I knew the Communist Party was unreliable,” he said. But his work, marriage and family life kept him busy, and Wang didn’t go out of his way to look for opportunities to emigrate. “Now that I’m divorced, I don’t have the burden anymore. I decided to go alone and leave my two children with my parents,” he said, adding that he hoped his children could join him later. Wang set his sights on one destination – America. He had never been out of China, nor did he speak English, but said he learned about the U.S. from TV shows and movies. “My impression of the United States is that it is a free, democratic, open and vibrant country. You can accumulate wealth through your own hard work,” he said.
Treacherous journey over land and water
Leaving China in the era of zero Covid is not easy.
Since early 2020, China has kept its borders largely sealed to keep the coronavirus out — an effort that looks increasingly futile in the face of the highly infectious Omicron variant.
The Chinese government has also banned citizens from going abroad for “non-essential” reasons. Travel is permitted only to resume work, study, business and scientific research or to seek medical treatment.
Beijing says the ban is intended to reduce the spread of Covid, but many in China see it as a way to make immigration more difficult.
Through online chat groups, Wang discovered a network of people in China who were planning to illegally immigrate to America via the South American nation of Ecuador.
He applied to a language school in Ecuador’s capital, Quito, and used the school’s admission letter to apply for a passport. Officials initially rejected his application, but eventually gave Wang his passport after he submitted a series of supporting documents.
Wang managed to get out of China in April and kept his family in the dark. “I told them I would look for a job in Zhejiang again. I didn’t want them to worry about me while I was on the road,” he said.
Wang Qun takes a boat from Colombia to Panama with other immigrants.
Wang took two flight stops to get to Quito, from where he bused more than 1,000 miles to a coastal city in Colombia. He then took a boat to Panama with dozens of other migrants. He was thrilled by the ride, taking a selfie video with passengers sitting behind him, who laughed, cheered and gave thumbs up.
But the journey ahead nearly broke him from exhaustion. Wang spent three days trekking through the dense rainforest of Panama, wading through mud, wading through rivers and climbing over rocks. “It was so painful. I felt like a walking corpse and at one point, after 12 hours of walking, I thought I was going to die,” he said.
Migrants cross a river in the Panamanian rainforest.
Coming out of the jungle, Wang took a canoe headed for a refugee camp. En route, the boat leaked water and nearly capsized, forcing Wang and other passengers to frantically bail out the water.
In the camp, Wang found refugees from all over the world. From there he spent seven days on buses to Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala, then took another boat ride to the Mexican border, where he was arrested by police for illegal entry.
Five days later, Wang was released and told to leave Mexico within 20 days. He then paid a smuggler thousands of dollars to get to Mexico City. He was crammed into the back of a truck with dozens of migrants, so crowded he could barely move or stretch his legs — then into a hot van with two dozen other people, with sealed windows and no air conditioning.
Dozens of migrants are crammed into the back of a truck headed for Mexico City.
It was over 104 degrees Fahrenheit inside the van, Wang said, and as sweat poured out of him, he struggled to breathe.
In Mexico City, he bought a motorcycle and rode 1,600 miles to the US border with a Chinese immigrant he met along the way, first on the coast and then in the desert.
Watching the sun set on the coast one night, Wang felt a thrill. “My dear family on the other side of the ocean, I don’t know if I still have a chance to come back in the rest of my life. Mom, dad and kids, I miss you so much,” she wrote. on Twitter.
When CNN met Wang in Mexicali near the US border on June 4, he appeared relaxed and calm. While the journey was more treacherous than he expected, Wang said it was worth it.
“I want my children to get a better education,” he said, adding that the patriotic education taught in Chinese schools had “brainwashed” his children.
“I don’t want to be oppressed. I want freedom,” he said.
Wang Qun’s journey from Panama to Mexico.
One of many desperate migrants
Wang’s journey to America may be rare and extreme, but he is not alone in taking the treacherous path. CNN spoke to other Chinese nationals trying to immigrate to the US illegally, including a man who escaped China in June by crossing the border into Vietnam. From there, he flew to Ecuador and followed the same route as Wang to the US-Mexico border. He said he almost died in the Panamanian rainforest and now he has arrived in Mexico City. According to the UN Refugee Agency, the number of Chinese nationals seeking asylum has risen nearly eightfold in the decade since Xi took office, reaching nearly 120,000 in 2021 — with about 75% of them to seek asylum in America. On China’s internet, searches for “migration” began to soar in March as many struggled to get basic necessities and food during nationwide lockdowns. Discussion forums with detailed advice on how to leave China have gone viral on social media, and immigration lawyers say inquiries from Chinese people wanting to leave have increased during the pandemic. “Inquiries are many hundreds of times what they were before,” said Edward Lehman, a Shanghai-based immigration lawyer. Ying Cao, an immigration lawyer in New York, said that in 1949 hundreds of millions of people left China in fear of the new government. “Now we feel there is a similar fear,” he said. Responding to CNN’s request for comment, China’s Foreign Ministry defended the country’s policies on Covid and called China a “land full of vitality and hope.”
A new life in America
The day after he spoke to CNN in Mexicali, Wang rode his motorcycle into the hills, then began hiking on a path heading north until he came across a metal wire half-trampled on the ground. He didn’t pay much attention and pressed it immediately. It wasn’t until 10 minutes later that he realized the wire marked the border and smiled with relief — he had finally reached America. He walked for hours in the wilderness, on terrain so steep and strenuous that his sneakers fell apart. He was then handed over to border control and, after spending a few days in custody, was released pending a hearing…
title: “Zero Covid China One Man S Epic Journey Across Continents In Search Of The American Dream Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-10-25” author: “Ernestine Gomez”
“In the years since Xi Jinping came to power, China’s policies have become increasingly strict, the economy is not doing well … and (his) dictatorship is only getting worse,” Wang told CNN. “He’s just another version of Mao Zedong,” Wang added, referring to the founder of Communist China who built a cult of personality around him and ruled until his death in 1976. “Xi is going to get another term soon — and may even stay in power indefinitely. I don’t see any hope.” As China’s most powerful leader in decades, Xi is widely expected to secure an unprecedented third term in a major political meeting this autumn. He vowed to achieve the nation’s “great rejuvenation,” envisioning a China that would rival — if not surpass — the West in power and strength. Under Xi, the ruling Communist Party has touted its political model as superior to Western democracies, citing Beijing’s ability to quickly stamp out Covid outbreaks as further evidence that China is on the rise and the US is in decline. Meanwhile, Chinese state media relentlessly highlighted racial inequality, gun violence and political polarization as evidence of American origins. But the growing popularity of the running philosophy — and trips to the U.S. by Wang and others — are a stark rejection of that narrative, showing that many Chinese do not believe in Xi’s promise to make China great again.
“I want to go”
Most students of the philosophy of running come from middle- and upper-class Chinese families with the means to immigrate legally, either through education, work, or investment. But Wang, who ran a bubble tea shop in an economic backwater in eastern China, says he has neither the money nor the skills to seek school or work in the US. After graduating from a vocational high school in 2008, Wang worked in graphic design for a few years in the eastern province of Zhejiang. Frustrated by low wages and stagnant career growth, he switched to online retail, leading a boom in China’s internet sector. As the industry grew, competition became fierce and profits declined. Wang quit in 2020 and returned to his hometown to open a bubble tea shop with a friend. Until then, China had adopted a relentless zero-Covid policy, based on sweeping surveillance of its 1.4 billion citizens, mass testing, extensive quarantines and emergency lockdowns — even when few cases were detected. Wang’s business was hit hard by the restrictions. “I couldn’t make ends meet and I have two children to raise,” said Wang, who is divorced. “I don’t want to be in lockdown. I want to leave.” It was not the first time Wang had considered leaving China. He said he first had the idea more than a decade ago, shortly after he learned to bypass China’s Internet censorship system and read about the 1989 Tiananmen massacre online. “I had my political awakening around 20. I knew the Communist Party was unreliable,” he said. But his work, marriage and family life kept him busy, and Wang didn’t go out of his way to look for opportunities to emigrate. “Now that I’m divorced, I don’t have the burden anymore. I decided to go alone and leave my two children with my parents,” he said, adding that he hoped his children could join him later. Wang set his sights on one destination – America. He had never been out of China, nor did he speak English, but said he learned about the U.S. from TV shows and movies. “My impression of the United States is that it is a free, democratic, open and vibrant country. You can accumulate wealth through your own hard work,” he said.
Treacherous journey over land and water
Leaving China in the era of zero Covid is not easy.
Since early 2020, China has kept its borders largely sealed to keep the coronavirus out — an effort that looks increasingly futile in the face of the highly infectious Omicron variant.
The Chinese government has also banned citizens from going abroad for “non-essential” reasons. Travel is permitted only to resume work, study, business and scientific research or to seek medical treatment.
Beijing says the ban is intended to reduce the spread of Covid, but many in China see it as a way to make immigration more difficult.
Through online chat groups, Wang discovered a network of people in China who were planning to illegally immigrate to America via the South American nation of Ecuador.
He applied to a language school in Ecuador’s capital, Quito, and used the school’s admission letter to apply for a passport. Officials initially rejected his application, but eventually gave Wang his passport after he submitted a series of supporting documents.
Wang managed to get out of China in April and kept his family in the dark. “I told them I would look for a job in Zhejiang again. I didn’t want them to worry about me while I was on the road,” he said.
Wang Qun takes a boat from Colombia to Panama with other immigrants.
Wang took two flight stops to get to Quito, from where he bused more than 1,000 miles to a coastal city in Colombia. He then took a boat to Panama with dozens of other migrants. He was thrilled by the ride, taking a selfie video with passengers sitting behind him, who laughed, cheered and gave thumbs up.
But the journey ahead nearly broke him from exhaustion. Wang spent three days trekking through the dense rainforest of Panama, wading through mud, wading through rivers and climbing over rocks. “It was so painful. I felt like a walking corpse and at one point, after 12 hours of walking, I thought I was going to die,” he said.
Migrants cross a river in the Panamanian rainforest.
Coming out of the jungle, Wang took a canoe headed for a refugee camp. En route, the boat leaked water and nearly capsized, forcing Wang and other passengers to frantically bail out the water.
In the camp, Wang found refugees from all over the world. From there he spent seven days on buses to Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala, then took another boat ride to the Mexican border, where he was arrested by police for illegal entry.
Five days later, Wang was released and told to leave Mexico within 20 days. He then paid a smuggler thousands of dollars to get to Mexico City. He was crammed into the back of a truck with dozens of migrants, so crowded he could barely move or stretch his legs — then into a hot van with two dozen other people, with sealed windows and no air conditioning.
Dozens of migrants are crammed into the back of a truck headed for Mexico City.
It was over 104 degrees Fahrenheit inside the van, Wang said, and as sweat poured out of him, he struggled to breathe.
In Mexico City, he bought a motorcycle and rode 1,600 miles to the US border with a Chinese immigrant he met along the way, first on the coast and then in the desert.
Watching the sun set on the coast one night, Wang felt a thrill. “My dear family on the other side of the ocean, I don’t know if I still have a chance to come back in the rest of my life. Mom, dad and kids, I miss you so much,” she wrote. on Twitter.
When CNN met Wang in Mexicali near the US border on June 4, he appeared relaxed and calm. While the journey was more treacherous than he expected, Wang said it was worth it.
“I want my children to get a better education,” he said, adding that the patriotic education taught in Chinese schools had “brainwashed” his children.
“I don’t want to be oppressed. I want freedom,” he said.
Wang Qun’s journey from Panama to Mexico.
One of many desperate migrants
Wang’s journey to America may be rare and extreme, but he is not alone in taking the treacherous path. CNN spoke to other Chinese nationals trying to immigrate to the US illegally, including a man who escaped China in June by crossing the border into Vietnam. From there, he flew to Ecuador and followed the same route as Wang to the US-Mexico border. He said he almost died in the Panamanian rainforest and now he has arrived in Mexico City. According to the UN Refugee Agency, the number of Chinese nationals seeking asylum has risen nearly eightfold in the decade since Xi took office, reaching nearly 120,000 in 2021 — with about 75% of them to seek asylum in America. On China’s internet, searches for “migration” began to soar in March as many struggled to get basic necessities and food during nationwide lockdowns. Discussion forums with detailed advice on how to leave China have gone viral on social media, and immigration lawyers say inquiries from Chinese people wanting to leave have increased during the pandemic. “Inquiries are many hundreds of times what they were before,” said Edward Lehman, a Shanghai-based immigration lawyer. Ying Cao, an immigration lawyer in New York, said that in 1949 hundreds of millions of people left China in fear of the new government. “Now we feel there is a similar fear,” he said. Responding to CNN’s request for comment, China’s Foreign Ministry defended the country’s policies on Covid and called China a “land full of vitality and hope.”
A new life in America
The day after he spoke to CNN in Mexicali, Wang rode his motorcycle into the hills, then began hiking on a path heading north until he came across a metal wire half-trampled on the ground. He didn’t pay much attention and pressed it immediately. It wasn’t until 10 minutes later that he realized the wire marked the border and smiled with relief — he had finally reached America. He walked for hours in the wilderness, on terrain so steep and strenuous that his sneakers fell apart. He was then handed over to border control and, after spending a few days in custody, was released pending a hearing…
