Love in the time of Covid-19: Chinese woman stuck in blind date's house after lockdown

Imagine being on a first date you couldn't end? That's what happened to a woman in China whose video blogs about going into a citywide lockdown during a blind date have gone viral.

Over 100 virus cases have been reported in the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou since last week, as China battles to contain multiple local outbreaks of the Delta and Omicron variants.

Parts of the city were abruptly placed under lockdown last Wednesday when a woman surnamed Wang was having dinner at her blind date's house.

"Just after I arrived in Zhengzhou, there was an outbreak and his community was put under lockdown and I could not leave," Wang told Shanghai-based outlet The Paper on Tuesday, adding that she went there for a week-long trip to meet potential suitors.

"I'm getting old now, my family introduced me to 10 matches... The fifth date wanted to show off his cooking skills and invited me over to his house for dinner."

Since then, Wang has posted short videos documenting her daily life in lockdown, which show her date cooking meals for her, doing household chores, and working at his laptop while she sleeps in, according to clips published by local media.

So far, it seems romance has yet to blossom during their prolonged date, according to Wang who says she's looking for a more talkative partner.

"Besides the fact that he's as mute as a wooden mannequin, everything else (about him) is pretty good," Wang told The Paper. "Despite his food being mediocre, he's still willing to cook, which I think is great."

Wang did not disclose her age or the identity of the man in the videos.

Related hashtags have racked up over six million views on the Twitter-like social media site Weibo by Wednesday.

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However, Wang said the recent surge in online attention prompted her to remove the videos.

"Friends have been calling him and I think this has definitely affected his life, so I have taken them down for now," she said in a video posted Tuesday that was widely republished in Chinese local media.

"Thanks everyone for your attention... I hope the outbreak ends soon and that my single sisters also find a relationship soon."

• Asia