Zhao Bin takes a picture of a wall in Wuhan, Hubei province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
Looking at the traffic and crowds in Guanggu Square, one of the busiest places in Wuhan, Hubei province, Zhao Bin realized that the city had finally recovered from the pandemic.
Zhao is a food deliveryman in Wuhan. He and other local deliverymen worked day and night with no time off and often forgot about meals during the days when the coronavirus was raging.
The virus wouldn't let him and the others have a rest. "People needed us," he said.
During the pandemic, food deliverymen had to search all stores around to prepare orders due to the shortage of supplies in Wuhan. "It was the busiest time I had ever seen as a food deliveryman," Zhao said. "It's so tiring, but I feel what I did was valued."
Zhao's story was unfolded in a documentary directed by local filmmaker Zhang Xiaosha.
"There are a lot of documentaries and other videography works focusing on struggles faced by people when they were fighting the coronavirus, but I wanted to look forward and see how Wuhan was rebuilt," Zhang said. "Then I found Zhao Bin."
One of the biggest changes that Zhao Bin has noticed is that customers now show more respect and understanding toward food delivery workers.
"Before the pandemic, customers didn't understand why delivery will be delayed on rainy days," Zhao said. "But after the pandemic, they text us to let us know it's fine if we're running late."
Zhao loves taking pictures of people since he spends most of his time on the street. He said he took up photography as a hobby after working as a museum security guard.
He believes no matter how heavy the daily workload is, people still need dreams and hobbies. One of his wishes during the pandemic was to get a shot of people hugging on the street, he said.
And now, the dream has come true. "My beloved Wuhan, is back," he said.
Tang Ziye contributed to the story.
