the clouds came, the clouds left again after depositing half a dozen semi evaporated droplets of warm water upon their way...

today the first day of the dragon boat festival, but the disruptions of the virus remain, the race over at keelung river to be held over youtube, crowds kept to a minimum and the sideshows cancelled. on the news frightening traffic jams along the coast as the city takes advantage of loosening restrictions, rooms down in hualien at a premium, the same up in the high mountains...

through town in order to pick up some traditional dumplings, sticky rice with various meaty things, not for me sadly... later stumbling upon a flea market, piles of familiarity strewn across covers on the pavements, the nearby nightmarket quieter than expected. 

another thing noticed as we wandered through through the city was the number of shops behind closed shutters, some of which will have closed for the holiday but many of which are victims of the virus, of the unwillingness of people to shop in person, a further upsurge of online shopping. it's going to be curious to return in a month or so and see how many are still closed, what the medium term effects of this period are upon the city, upon our interactions...