Each night under the cover of darkness, Shanghai resident Zhang Hongyan and her neighbours conduct barter transactions to get essentials which are in short supply due to the city’s coronavirus lockdown.
The residents conduct their bartering at night to avoid being caught outside their homes by authorities who enforce strict penalties for anyone caught breaking lockdown. On Thursday night, Zhang, who lives in the Baoshan district of the city, offered 10 eggs for barter in a WeChat group chat in the hope of receiving some fruit in return. On this occasion she was lucky, one of her neighbours agreed to give her a few apples in exchange.
“It’s not convenient during the day. I’ll leave the eggs at your building gate now and you go get them quickly,” she told the neighbour, named Anan, at 10 minutes to midnight.
