Ms Wang became an online sensation after blogging her awkward lockdown date experience. Photo / Wiebo
Ms Wang became an online sensation after blogging her awkward lockdown date experience. Photo / Wiebo
Stuck on an awkward first date with no way to escape? Sounds like familiar territory. But, to be trapped in small talk for four days by a citywide lockdown sounds like a plot devised by the cruellest of rom-coms.
A woman in China has found viral fame after she went on a blind date that was derailed by a snap Coronavirus lockdown.
Ms Wang was on a dinner date in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou only to discover that her suitor's residence had been plunged into strict quarantine.
A spike of over 100 Covid-19 cases triggered the local authority's circuit breaker response.
She says she only has her family to blame, who had played matchmaker.
"I'm getting old now," she says and her parents had set her up with a series of suitors in the nearby city in Guangdong.
"The fifth date wanted to show off his cooking skills and invited me over to his house for dinner," she said in a video entry.
A deliveryman shows his latest Covid-19 test result to navigate a government lockdown in Xian, China. Photo / Getty Images
Stuck with a stranger, with no sign of escape, Wang took to social media to blog her experience in a series of videos. She shared these via the Chinese website WeChat.
In spite of the shared ordeal and close proximity to her suitor, their budding romance did not bloom.
In a candid review of the never-ending date, she revealed that - in spite of the lockdown - it was a very average experience.
"Besides the fact he's as mute as a wooden mannequin, everything else is pretty good," she told Shanghai-based news site The Paper.
"Despite his food being mediocre, he's still willing to cook, which I think is great."
The fame and media attention was an unexpected development, says Wang.
The date diaries became an unexpected viral hit via the Chinese social media network, where her story was shared over 5 million times.
Out of respect for her date - and to save any more embarrassment - she removed the videos.
"Friends have been calling him and I think this has definitely affected his life, so I have taken them down for now," she said in a video posted Tuesday that was picked up by local media.
"I hope the outbreak ends soon and that my single sisters also find a relationship soon."
