You probably noticed this before you left China, but the trend has picked up steam during the course of the past several weeks.

The idea is to use cell phone photos/video as a means to snitch on people you deem to be running afoul of the regulations. For example, when I was on Wuding Road (sidewalk) the other night (for Crocus Jerry's birthday celebration), some social media influencer dude rode by on a bicycle, took pics of all of us (not wearing masks), and then posted them to WeChat and Weibo along with derogatory comments about "stupid foreigners". We got the posts removed fairly easily, but not before thousands of views occurred. The influencers do this every day. On a similar note, some of my neighbors have installed CCTV cameras on their balconies so they can monitor outside activities 24/7. Their thrill seems to be more limited in scope than the Weibo guys, from what I can tell, because they only post to our community WeChat group. However, they enjoy shaming people using specific apartment numbers (e.g. Please spit on this guy who lives in building 8, 1003 the next time you see him and tell him he is a monster).

I don't think there is a legal requirement to wear masks outside, but it's quite clear these folks are angered by others who don't possess the requisite community spirit.

I suppose I notice the foreigner targeting more than local targeting because I happen to be a foreigner, and the bloggers are fond of places that foreigners are likely to visit, but I'm not willing to proclaim this is a strictly anti-foreigner movement because the vast majority of the targets in my own compound are elderly locals who go outside at 6a to do taichi or smoke cigarettes. That having been said, the notion of disliking foreigners, especially the ones who take their jobs/women, might be undergoing a new growth phase.

In closing, I agree that zero-covid has a strong backing here...and, this has become moblike.