cover news reporter Bian Xue
Five or six bricks were piled up on top of each other, three or four pieces of firewood were inserted in the gaps, ignited with flammable straw or paper, and then an iron pot was set up to start cooking. Guo Shan, who has lived in Sri Lanka for nearly four months, has gradually become accustomed to the two- to three-hour cooking method. "Anyway, it's hard to do business now, and there's no shortage of time. My neighbor has no gas for a long time. It's normal for residents to use firewood to cook."
Guo Shan is using firewood to cook. (Photo provided by Guo Shan)
In "A Journey around the Equator", Mark Twain once described Sri Lanka: "Except snow, this place has everything." However, the South Asian island nation of 22 million people has entered a state of emergency after an energy crisis triggered massive protests. On July 9, the presidential palace in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, was stormed by thousands of protesters and set on fire.
As the domestic situation continues to worsen, media reports say that as the first country to default on its foreign debt this century, it is facing record inflation , shortages of fuel, food, medicine and other necessary living supplies, and people's livelihood has been in trouble.
html On July 11, a cover news reporter contacted some Chinese in Sri Lanka. They came to this beautiful island country with different aspirations, but now they are in a coup environment. How is their current production and life?Fuel crisis, daily power outages
"I have recently started to collect firewood for cooking"
"I don't live in Colombo currently. In addition to the fuel cutoff, no gas, and daily power outages, safety can still be guaranteed." Born in Harbin Guo Shan once worked in the inn industry and lived in Guizhou, Suzhou and Dali. After switching to the jewelry business, he currently lives with his wife in Beruwala, a famous gem city in Sri Lanka. The coup in Sri Lanka lasted for a long time, but the degree of deterioration was beyond his expectation.
"The queues for cars in Beruwala to refuel are several kilometers long. Several drivers have disappeared without filling up the gas." Guo Shan told reporters that sudden illness and fights over gas caused local residents to The key to casualties.
A fruit vendor sells firewood. (Photo courtesy of Guo Shan)
"Now the power outage in Loire is for four or five hours every afternoon. The specific time of the power outage is uncertain. We bought a large charging device, so life is still normal." After hearing news about energy shortages many times in reports, Guo Shan stocked up on a can of gas . "But I don't want to use the gas. Now I use collected firewood to cook my own meals. My neighbor is a Tamil grandmother who is almost 80 years old. She will give me firewood when she sees that we are having difficulty cooking. The locals now They are all selling firewood at the stalls. I have never seen them before.”
Because his wife is pregnant, Guo Shan has no plans to return to China in the near future. He told reporters, “I just don’t eat well at the moment, but I can eat fruits, seafood, and milk. The supply is sufficient. Vegetables cannot be delivered because the fuel is out, but the legend is coming soon. "
The economic shutdown is restricted.
"My daily activity radius is within two or three kilometers."
Although it is not subject to power outages. troubled, but Li Diankui, a Chinese who has lived in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, for more than ten years, still clearly feels the "changes" that are different from previous years. Affected by the epidemic, Sri Lanka's economy dropped by 3.6% year-on-year in 2020. Economic decline, increased foreign debt, and inflation have led to a rapid rise in unemployment.
On May 19, 2022, Sri Lanka defaulted on its sovereign debt for the first time since independence. Unable to pay interest on maturing debt of US$78 million, triggering sovereign debt crisis . The lack of foreign exchange imports has made Sri Lanka's economic crisis more serious. "It is definitely becoming more and more inconvenient to live locally recently, because the economic crisis has caused no foreign exchange, and has also led to energy crises such as no oil and electricity." Li Diankui told the cover news reporter that his radius of activity is basically limited to It is very unrealistic to travel far away within a range of two or three kilometers. "If you want to refuel your car, you have to queue up on a daily basis, and you may not be able to get refueled."
Vehicles queuing up for refueling.(Photo provided by Guo Shan)
"Sri Lanka's economic crisis has been obvious since the beginning of the year, and now the social economy is basically at a standstill." Li Diankui said, "There are probably more than 1,000 Chinese living in Sri Lanka. There were more before. But now there are fewer of them, and many have returned to China.” According to her, there are more Chinese mutual aid groups in Sri Lanka, “because it is not easy to go home, and everyone needs to help each other when encountering problems abroad. It’s time to ask for help from friends.”
Recalling the situation on the day of the protestors’ march, Li Diankui said that when the protesters occupied the presidential residence, the local government and police deployed police forces at gas stations to maintain order, but only a few protesters acted excessively. , most of them are peaceful, rational and non-violent. "The Chinese Embassy has issued a safety reminder to us. The area where I live is basically not affected by demonstrations. It is mainly the area where government departments are located. The area around the Presidential Palace and the Prime Minister's Office will be relatively chaotic."
compared to In other cities in Sri Lanka, Li Diankui encountered relatively few power outages. "There will be more power outages in more remote cities, and life will definitely be inconvenient. Because some people work here and cannot return to their country, they can only stay for the time being."
Li Diankui said, "Air tickets are not easy to buy, so for For many people, it is very difficult to go home. I won’t go back now, but I will wait for next year.”
Guo Shan told reporters that because he is far away from the capital, he can still feel the “peace and tranquility of the years.” "However, I don't want to do business now. I just want to live a good life."
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