Shanghai harvests memes from lockdown veg shortage

Health workers wearing personal protective gear walk next to a residential compound during the second stage of a Covid-19 lockdown in Jing’an district in Shanghai on April 1, 2022. — AFP

SHANGHAI: Bok choy emojis, clips of Gucci gift bags stuffed with celery and video of drones delivering broccoli – vegetable memes are the new currency in Shanghai’s sardonic social media scene, with the city locked down and pining for greens.

Those navigating the city’s thicket of Covid-19 restrictions to go shopping this week found long queues and empty shelves as panic-buying outpaced re-supply.