If I have to sum up the three-year pandemic experiences, perhaps these three photos would be the most appropriate. They were taken at Amsterdam airport, Barcelona airport, and the 5th arrondissement of Paris.

The three years of lockdown and quarantine measures have caused too much angst and absurd drama. The first time I wrote “warm welcome” as shown in the first photo, the context of that time, around the beginning of the pandemic, was corresponding: the strong sense of “discrimination” and “invisibility” I felt in Europe. Three years on, the gap is still widening, and I wonder if that slogan of “welcome” has truly arrived in action. So these four characters, in a sense, also are meant for me; as a Chinese who newly arrived in Europe, I hope to greet Europe in its current times with my enthusiasm. The words are also for Europe; I hope I could get that friendliness and care in a foreign land.

And now, with the ease of covid-related restrictions in China, it seems that “warm welcome” got a new meaning, which is to call for the rejoining of globalization in today’s context.

Chengfan, currently lives and works in Rotterdam.

ig@flocknick

如果用照片来总结三年疫情的体验的话，也许这三张照片最合适。他们分别摄于阿姆斯特丹机场，巴塞罗那机场，以及巴黎第五区

三年疫情带来的封锁和隔离，产生了太多的不安和荒谬的戏剧。当初于春联横批上写下“热烈欢迎”时有一个对应的模糊的背景：疫情初期我在欧洲感受到的极大的“偏见”和“不受待见”。三年时间的推移，缝隙在不断变大，“欢迎”的浪潮不知是否已至。因此这四字既写给我自己：作为欧洲华人新移民，希望能用红色的热情，热烈欢迎新的欧罗巴语境。也写给欧洲，希望自己在异土收获友善和关照。

而现在看来，“热烈欢迎”伴随着中国防疫措施的失效，多了一份新的含义：似乎也在呼唤着重新上路的全球化浪潮。