Shanghai slowly whirred back to life as a range of Covid-19 restrictions were eased after a two-month lockdown that confined residents to their homes and battered the Chinese economy.
The commercial hub of 25 million people was closed down in sections from late March, when the Omicron virus variant fuelled China's worst outbreak in two years.
After some rules were gradually relaxed over the past few weeks, authorities have begun allowing residents in areas deemed low-risk to move around the city freely. "It feels like we've all been through a lot of trauma, a collective trauma," Grace Guan told AFP.
The 35-year-old Shanghai resident said she went out at midnight when the restrictions eased and saw groups gathered in the street drinking beers, some sitting together on blankets laid out on the pavements. "Now it feels like the Berlin Wall coming down." Commuters today trickled into subway stations and office buildings, scanning QR codes that certify they are virus-free.