Medical workers as special guests

On Feb 29, Ai Houyu stopped shopping for groceries and wasted no time in rushing to a phone shop the minute he realized his mobile phone was missing. It was not the phone that he cared about, he had something else weighing on his mind.

Ai, 37, runs a private hotel, Aolihua Business Hotel, in Liaoyuan, a prefecture-level city in Northeastern China's Jilin province.

Ai has taken in many medical workers from four local hospitals since Feb 1. Although there were fewer than 10 confirmed cases of the coronavirus disease last month, local authorities insisted on taking additional measures. All medical workers had to be isolated from the public, and between shifts, Ai's hotel was a conveniently located place where they could rest and relax.

"I had to be up to speed about how many would eat at the hotel on a daily basis and what else they would need, so I could prepare in advance," Ai says.

Everything had to be done in accordance with the city's disease control rules.

"They send their requests, for instance, a bottle of water or a delivery of goods from their families, via WeChat, and we take the items to their door," Ai adds. "They pick up before we leave."

His phone is essentially a supply hotline. Medical workers send lists of items they need, and then Ai buys them with the help of his employees. Everything is communicated over the phone. So, Ai got a new SIM card and put it in one of his old phones.

Since February, Ai has been waking up at 5:30 am and driving more than an hour to pick up his employees.

"It keeps them off public transport and reduces the risk of infection," he says.

He then hits the grocery store to pick up fresh food for his guests.

"I have to buy food myself, because I need to make sure the quality is good and that medical workers have good nutrition after a hard day's work," Ai says.

Ai then joins his employees in cleaning the hotel and sanitizing everything. In addition to conventional disinfectants like ethyl alcohol, Ai has bought four ultraviolet sterilization devices. The goal is good housekeeping, he says.

At the end of a day, Ai drives his employees home and then comes back to sleep in his hotel before doing it all over again.

In late January, he was keen to go to Wuhan, capital of Hubei province and the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in China. "I wanted to help."

Ai considers Wuhan a home away from home after studying at the Central China Normal University there.

"It is a beautiful city and holds good memories of my youth," he says, adding that he still misses the cherry blossoms at Wuhan University.

"I learned important things in the city, and many of my classmates are still there."

Ai worked for a year in Wuhan after his graduation and returned to Liaoyuan, his hometown, after the local government announced incentives for young graduates to start their own businesses in 2008. He first got into a building materials business, before opening his hotel in 2013 after sensing a potential in local tourism.

His hotel was almost fully-booked when he answered the city's call for accommodation for medical workers.

"It's all about helping people who are working at the front line," Ai says. "Most of my guests at the time were locals who worked outside the city. They stayed here while visiting their families over the Spring Festival holiday."

Ai personally explained the situation to his guests and helped them to check out.

"They were very understanding and supportive and emptied the rooms quickly," Ai says.

However, half of his employees quit their jobs upon hearing about Ai's decision.

"I could understand their concern, but I could not go back on my decision," Ai says.

In the space of two days, Ai canceled all bookings and cleared out all of the 86 rooms in his hotel. He then worked with his remaining staff members to prepare the rooms for the medical workers. He took in more than 30 on Feb 1, and then more than 100 the next day. Ai has asked his employees to offer 24-hour service as medical workers come and go at all hours of the day or night. "They are working shifts, so we have to follow up with our service," Ai says.

Li Wei, the hotel's reception manager, has been holding down the fort for over a month. He went through a gallbladder operation himself about two months ago.

"The boss has gone into the battle, so we have nothing to be afraid of," Li says.

Li works with the other receptionist Yang Weiwei to take medical workers' temperatures and keeps track of their information as they go in and out of the hotel. Another employee, Liu Shichen, takes care of cleaning the rooms and stairways in the five-story hotel. His daily step-count on WeChat is usually above 20,000.

The hotel's chef Song Weidong also works every day from the early hours to prepare food for the special guests. Song lives close to the hotel and usually works 13 hours a day.

"He told me that he felt proud to be able to do something at a time like this," Ai says.

Ai is grateful to his employees. "None of them have complained about being tired."

At the moment, Ai's family is in Hainan province. He says it is better this way, so he can focus on what he is doing at the moment.

It's not the first time he has engaged in volunteer work. He has made donations to poor students in the past and raised money for migrant workers' children in Yantai, Shandong province. During his stay in Pakistan in 2018, he picked up trash in a Karachi park and donated daily necessities to the poor.

"I just wanted people to know that we Chinese care about the environment, too," Ai says. "The things we do might not be big, but we will do our best."

Ai has been paying the bills at his hotel for his special guests and he says everything can wait until the epidemic is over.

Speaking about his future plans, Ai says he will visit Wuhan when possible.

"I've visited Wuhan every two years or so, and it's been a great pleasure to catch up with friends and my teachers. We'll surely have a lot more to share after this critical time is over."