Kyle Newton was hoping to rest in the resort of Sania on Hainan Island, also known as the "Hawaii of China", after a strict two-month confinement in Shanghai.
Newton, a teacher by profession, was to spend less than a week in Hainan and it was his first vacation since he arrived in China just as the coronavirus pandemic broke out.
The island is located in the South China Sea not far from the southern coast of China.
But on Saturday, after 263 positive cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in Sania, authorities canceled all flights and trains from the city.
On Monday, the lockdown was extended to several towns after 504 cases were recorded on the island.
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The provincial capital of Haikou, with a population of nearly three million, has been closed, and state media reports that around seven million people have been told not to leave their homes except to get food or get tested for Covid.
Tourists now have to have five negative PCR tests over seven days before they can leave - if they can book a flight at all.
About 80.000 tourists are stuck in Sania, according to the city's deputy mayor.
The vast majority are Chinese, and among them are a large number of Shanghainese.
Newton from the UK says he has to stand in line for about two hours every morning to be tested for covid and has had to cancel business meetings.
The situation is "quite disappointing," he said, especially for those in Shanghai who have already endured the situation and the two-month shutdown.
"Everyone who came from Shanghai is in a pretty bad mood," he told the BBC.
While those whose flights were canceled on Saturday were reportedly offered free hotel rooms, Newton says the hotel only offered him a 50 percent discount for extending his stay.
"I'm fine, but there are a lot of families here who haven't been told what will happen when they can no longer pay for housing," he says.
Foreigners, especially those who do not know Chinese, are in a big problem because they find it difficult to get information, so they somehow organize and share it through phone applications.
Official information, if any, is not shared with outsiders, says Newton.
He adds that he is not entirely sure whether guests are allowed to leave the hotel.
Brian Hall, a professor at New York University in Shanghai, said it was unclear how long guests would have to stay in hotel rooms.
His room is reserved until Wednesday, and after that there is no confirmation of the arrangement, he said.
Hall said this is his fourth stint in solitary confinement this year alone.
Just four days after Shanghai lifted the blockade in early June, Dr Hall's residential area was closed again for another two weeks due to suspected close contact in a neighboring neighbourhood.
When he was allowed to leave, he immediately traveled to Sania, where he first had to spend 10 days in quarantine.
Dr Hall, a global mental health researcher, said that while lockdowns had shown effectiveness in reducing the spread of the virus, they were also taking a "significant toll" on mental health and well-being.
"I am concerned about how these restrictions can affect people's lives, having negative effects on their mental health, especially among those with unstable jobs, migrants and young people," he said.
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For residents like Simon Verisel, food supply is problematic, but not impossible.
Verisel moved with his family from Beijing to Sanya in May to avoid the covid measures in the capital, which were relatively stricter at the time.
French, the company's managing director of public relations, said they have been able to get food through delivery apps, but delivery can take more than 12 hours.
Still, Verisel says that's nothing compared to the plight of tourists.
"We have a place to stay indefinitely if necessary," he said.
"We are locked in our residence, but we can go out into the yard."
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