China’s Great Reopening
From Our Own Correspondent
BBC
4.4 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 14 January 2023
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Kate Adie presents stories from China, Brazil, Sri Lanka, the US and Portugal.
China has opened up its borders again ahead of the New Year festival. Late las year, Xi Jinping eased Covid restrictions after anti-Zero Covid protests, which has led to a surge in cases across major cities and provinces. Many in the country are divided about whether to savour their new found freedoms and travel, or stay put to protect elderly relatives, says Stephen McDonnell.
The storming of Brazil's congress, presidential palace and supreme court by supporters of Jair Bolsonaro has led many to draw parallels with the attack on the Capitol building in Washington in 2021. Katy Watson looks at who the protestors are and who might be behind them.
Zeinab Badawi is in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, where she meets Sinhalese artist, Jagath, whose work mainly focuses on the country's brutal history. She hears the story of how one of his monuments to commemorate those who died in the conflict was destroyed in favour of a new building project.
David Adams is in Miami, Florida, where, during a stroll one day, he encounters some iguanas which have fallen from surrounding trees. And although Florida escaped much of the worst of the recent freeze in the US, he reflects on whether these creatures could be a canary in the coal mine for climate change.
Alastair Leithead chose to move to southern Portugal for a more settled life, after years on the road as a foreign correspondent. He writes about his experiences of trying to live an off-grid lifestyle - and some of its challenges.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts |
| 0:05.0 | Today, the site of thousands of supporters of former president Jaya Bolsonaro overrunning |
| 0:11.3 | key government buildings in Brazil has dented initial hopes of a peaceful transition of |
| 0:17.2 | power, but who's behind it? |
| 0:20.4 | We're in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo, where we meet a cynilies artist who depict scenes |
| 0:26.2 | from the country's brutal past. |
| 0:29.5 | The guanos are falling out of trees in Miami and Florida after a deep freeze set in across |
| 0:36.2 | several US states over Christmas, is this a prelude of worse to come? |
| 0:42.1 | And the dream of living off-grid is taking many digital nomads to Portugal. |
| 0:48.0 | We hear from our correspondent what it's like. |
| 0:51.5 | First China, which has finally emerged from its long isolation with the lifting of its |
| 0:57.0 | zero COVID restrictions, instantaneous lockdowns in car parks and places of work, restaurants |
| 1:04.5 | rapidly shuttered as new cases emerged and the grim reality of the quarantine centres are |
| 1:10.3 | now things of the past. |
| 1:13.4 | And as Chinese New Year fast approaches, a time when hordes of travelers typically set |
| 1:19.2 | off to visit relatives across the country, the authorities are bracing themselves for |
| 1:24.4 | an influx of people and COVID cases. |
| 1:28.6 | Public health officials are urging people not to visit elderly relatives, imploring them |
| 1:33.6 | to show they care without bringing the virus into their grandparents' homes. |
| 1:39.3 | Stephen McDonald has reported from Beijing throughout the COVID outbreak and was struck by |
| 1:44.6 | the transformation of the country upon his return from holiday. |
| 1:49.5 | When you step off an international flight and arrive in China now, the normality of the |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.

