Hotel embraces stranded Hubei visitors

Editor's note: This series tells the stories of selfless individuals, from medical workers to volunteers, who are bravely fighting the virus outbreak with extraordinary dedication.

Hotelier Liu Yongjun has been very busy these days, with nearly 100 tourists from Central China's Hubei province quarantined at his hotel in Guiyang, the capital of Southwest China's Guizhou province.

"We're willing to stand with Hubei people in this hard time," said Liu, general manager of Junyue International Hotel in Guiyang's Guanshanhu district. "We gave our staff special training to keep safe while providing warm service."

Since the lockdown on Jan 23 of Wuhan, the city in Hubei that is the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak, many people from Hubei have been stranded in other provinces including Guizhou, which activated a Level 1 public health alert on Jan 24.

Guizhou has designated a number of hotels to provide centralized accommodations for tourists from Hubei in a bid to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

By Jan 29, there were 112 designated hotels in Guizhou, including 12 in Guiyang. So far the temperatures of all 188 tourists from Hubei in Guiyang have been normal.

Junyue was the first hotel to be designated. Since Jan 27, it has accommodated 95 tourists from Hubei, mostly from Wuhan.

Every day, medical personnel monitor their temperatures and disinfect their rooms. Staff members are on duty 24 hours a day and can help the guests to buy necessities and solve other problems.

They pay just 180 yuan ($26) for a room and 40 yuan for daily meals-compared with the usual prices of 480 yuan and 100 yuan, respectively-with government providing 50 yuan per person per day.

"Here we isolate the virus but not love," said Lu Yongzheng, a member of the standing committee of the Guizhou Provincial Party Committee and head of the province's publicity department, while visiting the isolated guests at Junyue hotel on Jan 30.

"The people of Guizhou will stand together with the people of Hubei to tide over difficulties, and we will jointly win the fight against the epidemic," said Lu.

Some local residents and enterprises have donated fruit, snacks and other supplies to the designated hotels. They leave messages for the Hubei tourists that include "Stay strong, Wuhan!" and other encouraging words.

In turn, the Hubei tourists frequently express the sentiment that "a friend in need is a friend indeed".

One guest, Geng Hanhua, told her friends in a 500-member WeChat group for travel enthusiasts: "Don't worry about us. We're well looked after here in the hotel in Guiyang."

Geng, 63, and seven other members left Wuhan on Jan 21 to celebrate the Spring Festival holiday in Guizhou. On Jan 24, they were stopped at the train station and persuaded to be quarantined.

"There were concerns about the outbreak, but we didn't expect it to be so serious," Geng said.

Tian Peihua, 57, said: "While we're here, my family members were worried that local people might be prejudiced against us. But I never felt that. They are warm-hearted."

Before the outbreak, Tian had hoped to appreciate the spectacular scenery of the Huangguoshu Waterfalls and Xijiang Qianhu Miao Village, a community of the Miao ethnic group.

She said it was "a pity" she was unable to take in the sights, but added, "I hope we win the battle against the virus as soon as possible, and I will surely come back again to enjoy all the beautiful scenery and delicious food."

She added, "We also welcome the people who have given us help to visit us in Hubei."

Dong Xianwu and the media center of Guanshanhu district in Guiyang contributed to this story.