Andy Boreham comes from New Zealand's capital city, Wellington, and has lived in China for nearly a decade. He has a master's degree in Chinese culture and language from Fudan University and is interested in all things related to contemporary Chinese society. 

It was a bittersweet moment being awarded a Magnolia Award this afternoon: only around half of the recipients could make it because of the epidemic situation as Shanghai, and indeed the rest of China, has greatly relaxed its strict COVID-control policy.

Today was the ceremony for the Magnolia Silver Award, given to foreigners in Shanghai in recognition of their "eminent contributions to Shanghai's development and international cooperation." For many of us present, that has included work over the past three years as Shanghai and China battled against COVID-19.

Andy Boreham receives Shanghai Magnolia Silver Award today.

Nearly three years ago, when COVID first hit Shanghai and as many foreigners fled the country or stayed safe at home, I was out and about doing daily vlogs in order to keep expats in the city – as well as their loved ones overseas – up to date on the latest novel coronavirus news. How many have picked up the virus? What are the symptoms? How do we stay safe? Can I use the subway? Do I go to work as usual?

I did about 40 daily video updates on the streets of Shanghai, without taking a break, in the hope of providing some sort of comfort, especially for those in the city who can't understand Mandarin Chinese.

As Shanghai and the rest of China gained control of that first wave, life here was open and safe. Probably for around two years, life in Shanghai was the envy of the rest of the world.

Fast forward to today, and there I was receiving an award from the Shanghai government as China has just lifted its controversial COVID controls. Just weeks ago, people who tested positive for COVID-19 were required to enter central quarantine facilities until they were fully recovered. Whole buildings and communities were frequently shut down for days on end as the virus, now much more transmissible than two years ago, slowly made its presence known.

Now, as all those restrictions have been removed, COVID is spreading through Shanghai faster than ever before. One of my colleagues who was meant to be coming along to the ceremony, informed me the night before that he couldn't make it. In taking the PCR test required to attain the 24-hour negative result to get in to the venue, he joined thousands of other Shanghainese this week who have tested positive.

And that was the case, too, for many of my fellow recipients of the Magnolia Silver Award who didn't make it to the ceremony.

But that doesn't take away from their achievements, and the achievements of everyone in the city over the past three years as Shanghai, China and the world were thrown into a once-in-a-century global pandemic. Zhang Xiaosong, director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Shanghai government, thanked the recipients for going through a tough time in the city's history, and with all those challenges still managing to keep up Shanghai's momentum.

That moment made me feel really proud. It wasn't easy, but we did it. All 25 million of us.

Upper above: Nie Guangtao, Rewi Alley's third adopted son, shakes hands with Andy in Shandan, Gansu Province, in June 2021.

Above: Zhao Qianxi (right), a researcher at the Rewi Alley Memorial Hall, takes Andy Boreham to an old site of the Bailie School where they dig up artifacts made by students there.

And it got me thinking about the months I spent at home during the start of the pandemic, way back before COVID-19 even had a name. That's when I really dived in to learning about fellow New Zealander Rewi Alley, a man who arrived in Shanghai nearly 100 years ago and made a huge impact on this city, and on China as a whole. Now he's remembered as a symbol of friendship between New Zealand and China – someone I look up to and admire.

He, too, lived in Shanghai through tough times: For him it was the civil war.

As I looked at my Magnolia Award I thought of him. I'm sure he would be proud.

Source: Andy Boreham City News Service