Lockdown crisis

During previous Spring Festivals, Li and his colleagues would take turns to take time off. However, as COVID-19 hit Wuhan and the city was locked down just before this year's festival began, it became the busiest time for them.

To make sure that there was a continuous supply of vegetables to Hema in Wuhan, Li, and around 30 of his colleagues, worked 16-hour days. In the morning, Li went to the farms to collect their produce. In the afternoon, all of them took turns transporting the vegetables to the market.

"Usually we supply 6,000-8,000 servings of vegetables to Hema every day and, at most, 10,000 servings on weekends. After the lockdown of the city, up to 32,000 servings were delivered in one day," Li says.

Because of the lockdown, some local farmers' vegetables couldn't be purchased and transported out of the area. Li heard about this and went to collect the vegetables and find buyers for them. "I can't let the vegetables rot," he says.

Li and his colleagues also volunteered to distribute packaged vegetables to communities short of fresh food, even those near the Huanan Seafood Market where, due to its proximity to the early COVID-19 outbreak, many people were reluctant to deliver.

During the lockdown of the city, up to 1,300 packages of vegetables were delivered by Li and his team each day, each one weighing about eight kilos and each car load weighing nearly five metric tons.

"I remember it was cold in February, when one resident brought us a bottle of hot tea. He wrapped the bottle with tissue and asked me to remove the bottle from it to avoid direct contact and asked us to stay safe. I was so touched," Li says.

Li and his colleagues had to disinfect themselves before returning home. His 15-year-old daughter once asked him not to go to work. He told his daughter: "Have you watched the movies about war? Someone must be brave when the battle begins."

After learning the news that her father was a "food hero", Li's daughter sent him a message that says: "Dad, you are awesome! I'm proud of you."