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Hello, I'm James Reynolds on the BBC World Service and this is BBC Earth Conversations on COVID in China.

Imagine this, not seeing your extended family, your close friends for almost three years.

Well, that's been the experience for many who call China home.

But now COVID restrictions have finally been lifted and borders have reopened.

We've been bringing together people living in the country and also Chinese people are broad soon to return home.

COVID has taught us that we all need connecting to people. We need to see people and feel the see their emotions in their face.

China has had some of the strictest rules on COVID in the world.

It's zero COVID policies, all buildings and even entire cities put into lockdown to eliminate the spread of the disease.

Ultimately though, this policy led to protests and the policy has now gone.

For the first time then, since early 2020 restrictions on movements and travel and requirements on testing are over.

So, let's hear firstly about what life has been like in China over the past three years, the lockdown years.

We brought together Yanyi, who's in Jankzu Province, Sniye Shanghai.

After living in the US, she returned to China in November. Lex is a high school student in Anhui Province, also Nishanghai.

And David is a Swiss citizen, but he was born in China to Chinese parents.

He's lived in the country on and off his whole life.

The lockdowns, the masked mandates, the COVID passes.

I was basically telling myself, look, this isn't going to go away anytime soon.

And I certainly did not expect zero COVID to be dismantled like snap bangin' like about, I don't know, four or six weeks just like this.

I was thinking we'd be set free like about spring-ish, but now we are free.

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