AP PHOTOS: Virus uncertainty for China's Year of Ox vendors

WUHAN, China (AP) — Vibrant red lanterns line an alley in Wuhan, China, but customers only trickle in. Around the corner, Gong Linhua recalled earlier years when her store was packed and the street outside was brimming with snack carts.

“This is the first time in 20 years of business that I’ve been in this situation,” said the seller of Lunar New Year decorations. At 60, she is contemplating retirement if the economy doesn’t pick up.

Even in China, where COVID-19 is largely under control and economic growth accelerated to 6.5% in the last three months of 2020, the recovery is uneven and fresh outbreaks are dampening business for some.

The winter has brought China's largest resurgence to date with more than 2,000 new cases and two deaths in January. The numbers are small compared to most other countries, but enough for worried officials to curb travel and activities for Lunar New Year, one of the biggest holidays of the year.

That's a blow for airlines, trains, hotels and restaurants and a reversal from the last major holiday in October, when tourism surged back. Near the bottom of the food chain are the shops that stocked up on ornaments for the Year of the Ox.

With about two weeks to go until New Year's Day on Feb. 12, Wang Cuilan remained optimistic, even though sales have been about half a normal year so far.

She and her husband have operated a shop on the alley near Gong's shop for about 20 years. Business is down for hotels and entertainment venues, their big-ticket customers, so orders for decorations are down, too, she said.

This year is worse for sales than last. Wuhan, the city that bore the brunt of the pandemic in China, was locked down just two days before the Lunar New Year in 2020. By then, most Year of the Rat items had already been sold.

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