Beijing a City of 21 Million Now Deserted Streets and Villages Fall Eerily Silent

There are no people on the road. It's 830 in the morning, Dianmen Outer Street in Beijing, no cars. In the distance is Wanchun Pavilion in Jingshan. It's the new year. All the Beijing people have returned to their hometowns. The traffic is not blocked. The subway is not crowded. Nanluoguxiang can finally take a step forward. You can cross the whole Beijing in 20 minutes. Looking at the empty Chang'an Street, my heart is really at ease. It's 730 in the morning at a Beijing subway station. There are basically no people waiting for the train. There are probably not many people in the station. If Beijing were like this every day, what would it become? Except for my footsteps, there is no sound at all. There is no sound. It's the first day of the Lunar New Year. It's 8 o'clock now. There are no festive lights in Beijing for the new year. There is no noise. There is nothing. It's too cold. It's the new year. It's not as lively as ordinary days. On ordinary days, there are still people coming and going. Now there are only a few people left. The current time is nine o'clock in the morning on the second day of the Lunar New Year. Now we are on Erhuanyili in Beijing, near Chaoyangmen South Alley. It is deserted. These 20 restaurants are all closed. The traffic light is on. Look at how comfortable Beijing's bus is during the holiday season. It's just as comfortable as a chartered bus. The bus is empty. Only the driver and us. No one is on the road. No buses, no cars. The air conditioning is running easily. During the Beijing New Year, the roads are like in Shen Yun, with no cars at all. It's empty. Beijing during the new year feels like the most unfamiliar Beijing. What is left? There are no people on the road. The outsiders have all gone home for the new year. Beijing has no lanterns or fireworks. There is no laughter. There is nothing. Look, in the morning there is no one outside. At night there is still no one. It's too quiet. No firecrackers can be heard and no one can be seen. What is going on? This year is really boring. Look at Beijing today. Some people say that Beijing is only truly Beijing during these few days of the new year. In fact, looking at these two days, there are indeed very few people. There are not many people on the bus. Who said there is no New Year's Eve atmosphere in Beijing? I just went downstairs to walk the dog. I could still feel that New Year's Eve was coming. It's cold and windy. There are no cars on the road. There are no people. It's very quiet. The wind is blowing. It's cold. And I feel like it's the new year. I feel like this year's situation is more exaggerated than what's being said online. It's only seven o'clock. Why is there no one? There's no one here. It's more extreme than usual. Beijing is getting colder as the new year arrives. I said I would go to the hair salon the other day, but it was closed. Yesterday, the small restaurant my husband often goes to was also closed. People who sell fruit, sell meat, sell vegetables, even those who sell snacks. There are almost no people on the streets in Western Beijing. Occasionally, a courier rides by. Today's Beijing looks busy, but there are no people. Beijing is on holiday. What are Beijing's roads like now? Look how lively it is. Look, there are lights everywhere. People come and go. Look, there are two little children outside. This is Beijing, a big city. Look at the road. It's so beautiful. Beijing. This year, he only earned 877 yuan. He said that in previous years, there were many people taking taxis, and many people couldn't even get one. But this year, ride-hailing drivers find it very hard to get orders. The driver also said that today is the first day of the Lunar New Year. He only started working at 4 p.m. because he knew there would be no orders during the day. In previous years, on the first day of the Lunar New Year, ride-hailing drivers could hardly compete for orders because there were so many passengers. But this year is different. This incident, there are no cars on the road. This is the new year. This road is not even lit. In fact, since the end of December this year, a large number of people have left Beijing. Over the past two months, Mama, you could see many small bags in the subway and people carrying suitcases. This is a small alley near Xianlun Road in Beijing. You can see that there are no people in this alley or in this neighborhood. Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year. In theory, it should be time to visit relatives. But basically, there's no one. It's almost 11 o'clock. Beijing this year is as clear and quiet as the moon. The streets are filled with young faces pulling suitcases. Beijing quickly returned from an empty city to a lively one in the past. But this year, the subway is no longer crowded. There are also few newcomers from other provinces on the streets. At the subway station, there might be around 1,000 people in the past. Now there are only about 32. In the past, apartments were rented out quickly. But this year, the house has been empty. I don't see any tenants. I feel flustered. I don't know when this house will be rented out. What should I do in the future? I really hope this cold weather will pass soon. I look forward to those hard-working migrants from the north returning, letting Beijing regain its former liveliness. It is the second day of the Lunar New Year. The streets should be bustling, but there is no one. Beijing's biggest feature this year is silence. Today is the second day of the Lunar New Year. In Beijing, I feel there is not much New Year atmosphere. I live on the outskirts, and it seems there are almost no fireworks this year. In the past, from New Year's Eve to the first day of the Lunar New Year, when meals were served, there would always be fireworks. This year, there are almost none. It's cold and quiet. There used to be a tourism association nearby, but it was closed this year. This is Beijing's morning rush hour. The North Third Ring Road and East Chang'an Avenue are no longer congested. They are completely clear. No one is delivering food. The restaurants are all closed. Beijing has become an empty city. This year's Chinese New Year feels like a year without celebration. Some people say there is no one in the countryside and no one in the city. Netizens are wondering why they can't see people anywhere. This year is really strange. Do you feel strange this year? There is no atmosphere of the Chinese New Year at all. There is no desire to consume. Do you feel it? Now, except for the red lanterns hanging on the streets, there is no other sign of the Chinese New Year. Do you feel this way? Look at Shanghai. It's cold and sunny. There is no one in Shanghai during the Chinese New Year. What's going on? Where is everyone? Did they all go abroad for the New Year? Shanghai is so beautiful. In the city center of Shanghai, on Changning Road and Jiangsu Road, it has also become quiet. There is none of the former traffic congestion or city noise, only the faint sound of the wind and the occasional car passing by. Do you have the feeling this year that the festive atmosphere in both the North and the South is fading from your social circle? The New Year atmosphere is different from past years. The warmth that used to be felt deep in the bones is gone. Now, whether in the North or the South, the New Year feels equally cold and bleak. The taste of the New Year depends only on imagination. I noticed something this year. I didn't even see the usual promotional stands at the entrances. Did you see any? On the way, sitting together in a circle, I found that it was very cold during the Spring Festival. I went to a place where there were not many people. China's economy is sliding fast, growth is weakening, factories are cutting output, and consumer confidence remains fragile. The property crisis that began with giants like Evergrande Group and Country Garden continues to ripple through the system, dragging down construction, local government revenue, and household wealth. Youth unemployment has surged, yet small businesses are struggling to survive, and spending is cautious at best. What once looked like a temporary slowdown now feels increasingly structural. Foreign capital is also pulling back. Global investors have been trimming exposure as regulatory uncertainty and geopolitical tensions rise. Major institutions such as Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs have warned about slower growth prospects, while supply chains continue shifting towards Southeast Asia and India. Multinational firms are diversifying away from over-dependence on the Chinese market. Capital outflows, a weaker currency, and declining foreign direct investment are sending a clear message. Confidence is not what it used to be. Bankruptcies and closures are spreading across sectors, from real estate to retail to export manufacturing. Local governments are burdened with heavy debt, infrastructure projects generate limited returns, and deflationary pressure is tightening margins. Many analysts now warn that without deep structural reform, the slowdown could harden into prolonged stagnation. The sense on the ground is unmistakable. The economic tremor has already begun, and a larger shock may be closer than policymakers want to admit. Taken together, the signs point to an economy sliding into a deep and prolonged downturn. Growth engines that once powered decades of expansion, real estate, exports, infrastructure, are all weakening at the same time. Confidence among households, entrepreneurs, and foreign investors has been shaken, and restoring it will not be easy. Mounting debt, demographic decline, and capital flight are structural pressures, not short-term shocks. Most stimulus measures may slow the descent, but they cannot fully reverse the underlying imbalances. The risk is no longer a brief slowdown, but a drawn-out period of stagnation that reshapes China's economic trajectory. Whether policymakers can engineer a turnaround remains uncertain, but the window for avoiding a severe recession appears to be narrowing rapidly.