When an unexpected COVID-19 lockdown occurred in Zhengzhou, China, a 30-year-old woman was forced to live with her blind date in his house in what she said was not an ideal first encounter.

The woman, who is being identified by her surname, Wang, went on a blind date on Jan. 6 at her suitor’s house in her hometown of Zhengzhou – the capital of Henan province - for a home-cooked dinner, when the city was swiftly locked down to prevent the spread of COVID-19, CNN reported.

In a video on WeChat, which has since been hidden, Wang said, “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.”

When Wang, who had just returned to Zhengzhou from Guangzhou, China, ahead of the Lunar New Year, was mid-date when she discovered the entire neighborhood was in a COVID lockdown, BBC News said.

China regularly issues immediate lockdowns when coronavirus infections are reported among residents in the area as it looks to maintain a zero-COVID strategy to prevent the spread of the virus among communities.

At the time, Zhengzhou had reported more than 100 COVID cases in the recent outbreak, according to the Global Times newspaper. As of Tuesday, all non-essential businesses were shut down, CNN said.

This was when Wang realized that she was going to be stuck at her blind date’s home for the entire lockdown period.

“Just after I arrived in Zhengzhou, there was an outbreak, and his community was put under lockdown and I could not leave,” she told the state-run news outlet The Paper on Tuesday, the Agence France-Presse reported.

To document her quarantine experience, Wang posted a series of videos on social media, showing her date cooking for her, cleaning, and working on his laptop, which went viral, with discussions trending on China’s Weibo social platform, according to CNN.

However, her experience being in quarantine with her blind date has been better than she expected, she told The Paper on Tuesday, as reported by CNN.

“During quarantine, I feel that apart from him being reticent like a wooden mannequin, everything else about him is pretty good. He cooks, cleans the house, and works. Although his cooking isn't very good, he's still willing to spend time in the kitchen. I think that's great.”

But due to the attention that her social media posts are receiving, Wang hid her original video, explaining in a Douyin post on Monday.

“Right now, I'm still at the man's house. He's an inarticulate, honest person and he doesn't talk much. After my video became trending [on Weibo], some friends started calling him -- I think it has affected his life. That's why I removed it.

“Thanks everyone for your attention...I hope the pandemic will end soon and that single girls can find a relationship soon.”

At press time, it was unclear if Wang was still quarantined at her blind date’s house.

As the world marks International Women's Day, women in China have rallied against measures they deem discriminatory as the government races to contain the crisis, which has disrupted the lives of tens of millions of people under lockdown
As the world marks International Women's Day, women in China have rallied against measures they deem discriminatory as the government races to contain the crisis, which has disrupted the lives of tens of millions of people under lockdown AFP / STR
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