This National Day holiday like no other for Wuhan

This year's National Day holiday is a special one, as it not only coincides with the Mid-Autumn Festival－a traditional Chinese holiday for family reunions－but it also is the first long vacation since the country has brought the COVID-19 pandemic under control.

For people in Wuhan, who experienced a total lockdown of the city during the Spring Festival holiday due to disease prevention restrictions, this eight-day National Day holiday is of particular significance.

A flash mob performance was staged last weekend at Wuhan's train station. Participants included students, teachers, station workers, folk artists, doctors, soldiers and journalists who worked in the city during the hardest part of the outbreak.

They gathered at the station and sang the song My Homeland, which was composed in the 1950s and is popular enough that almost all people in China know the lyrics.

The train station, which was an empty shell during the worst of the outbreak, was filled with thousands of passengers traveling to and from the capital of Hubei province.

Hua Yuchen, who was honored as one of the "most beautiful volunteers fighting COVID-19", took part in the flash mob.

During the outbreak, the Wuhan primary school music teacher was a volunteer at a mobile hospital, helping relieve the anxiety of many patients through a program she hosted every day.

She told China Daily that when she arrived at the station and saw many medical professionals she had met during the outbreak, she couldn't help but shed tears as she recalled the memories of their working together at the front line, facing unknown risks.

"Now we've been through so much and reunited with joy and excitement," she said. "Seeing so many people singing and waving the national flag together is really a touching moment."

The coincidence of the 71st anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China on Thursday falling on the 15th day of the year's eighth lunar month－Mid-Autumn Festival－made what is generally a seven-day holiday for the nation's anniversary into an eight-day break.

The longer break has brought more people outdoors and given some Wuhan people who work outside the city－and were unable to get back home during Spring Festival because of the lockdown－an opportunity to reunite with their loved ones.

Hu Lingyu, who was born in Wuhan and now works in Beijing as a researcher, returned to Wuhan on Monday.

The 26-year-old had bought a ticket and planned to go back home in January, but was unable to do so because of the health emergency. Having kept a close eye on her hometown, she had seen the emptiness of the city on TV during the lockdown, which was a big contrast with what she was now seeing in the city.

"A light show on Wednesday night attracted a large crowd. Also, there were so many vehicles from other provinces and cities traveling on the streets of Wuhan, leading to traffic jams here and there. All these indicate that my hometown is coming back to life," she said.

"Such a situation is an outcome achieved with great effort and at great cost. I hope that everyone will continue to be cautious about the virus so that everything comes out well," she added.

Wuhan's city government said it had planned more than 140 events, including exhibitions and carnivals, to bring joy to the lives of residents and tourists during the holiday.