Since the beginning of 2020, the covid-19 pandemic has brought dramatic changes to the lives of Chinese people. Some lost their jobs, while others found new business opportunities out of the crisis.

[Photo courtesy of He Yutong]

He Yutong, from Hubei province, has been running a dessert shop in the CBD area of Beijing. Opening in November 2019, her shops became popular almost overnight. But her business suffered a severe hit because of the pandemic.

Faced the double pressure of being infected in the outbreak center and business failure thousand miles away in Beijing, she spend an indelible Spring Festival of 2020.

[Photo courtesy of Chen Jianan]

Chen Jianan is from Heilongjiang province, and used to work for a leading tourism company in Beijing. Now that the company’s business fell to zero, he had to quit – without back-up plan or any other option. There was nothing for it but to take back control of his life.

[Photo courtesy of Li Xu]

Cutting the number of employees from 20 to 7, Li Xu is going through his most difficult time since launching his foreign trade company. He realized it was vital to have a plan if he was to get through this pandemic.

Click the audio to find more details of their story.