Students from Northwestern Polytechnical University wheel luggage back home Monday ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday in Xi’an, Northwest China’s Shaanxi province. The provincial capital on Monday downgraded the status of two areas to low-risk for spreading Covid-19, clearing the last of the recent Covid hot spot’s medium- or high-risk areas. Photo: VCG

Residents visit the reopened Great Tang All Day Mall, a famous cultural and commercial street in Xi’an, on Sunday. Crowds started to reappear after the local government lifted Covid-19 restrictions in the virus-struck city. Photo: VCG

Workers get ready Sunday to put up a giant lantern for the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday. Photo: VCG

Children build a snowman on top of a car Sunday in Xi’an. Photo: Zhang Yuan/China News Service, VCG

Residents walk down a street Sunday in Xi’an. Photo: VCG

A subway worker in a protective suit manages the flow of passengers in Xi’an on Sunday. The number of Xi’an subway riders has rebounded as curbs have eased. Photo: VCG

A worker guides a driver outside a supermarket in Xi’an on Jan. 15, the day the city began lifting Covid-19 restrictions in certain areas. Photo: VCG

A resident carries his child down the street in Xi’an on Jan. 15. Photo: Zhang Yuan/China News Service, The Paper

Residents hang out in a public square in Xi’an on Thursday. Photo: VCG

Children ride their bicycles on Thursday. Photo: VCG

Residents purchase goods Sunday for the upcoming Lunar New Year on a revived commercial street in the Hui Fang area of Xi’an. Photo: VCG

A resident eats a bowl of soup at a street stall in the Hui Fang area Sunday. Photo: VCG

Residents stand in line in front of a reopened food store in the Hui Fang area. Photo: VCG