Vivian breathed a sigh of relief when her family's flight from Shanghai touched down in Sydney last month.
Their arrival marked the end of a long journey for the 34-year-old, her husband and their two children, who left the city of 25 million people after being locked down for almost a month.
"We were lucky to be able to leave, but so many people are not in [that] position.
"I feel like we abandoned our neighbours… they were really happy that we were able to go, but I felt terrible leaving them."
Vivian's family moved to Suzhou, a city near Shanghai, in January 2021 when her husband landed a job at a Chinese university, before relocating to Shanghai earlier this year.
Last month, the family decided to return to Australia after seeing increasing numbers of COVID-19 cases in their neighbourhood and due to fear of the government separating infected children from their parents.
"People have been taken away in the middle of the night from our lane. Screaming. It was awful," Vivian said.
Vivian only wanted to be known by her first name because her husband might return to China later this year to continue working at the university.
Australian government data shows 594 citizens and permanent residents travelled from Shanghai to Australia during March and April this year.
But it is unclear how many of those travellers were expats living in Shanghai, or travellers from other parts of China transiting through Shanghai — a major travel and transit hub — to return to Australia.
A last-minute dash to retrieve a passport
Since March, the Chinese government has been fighting to keep an Omicron-fuelled outbreak under control with a strict lockdown that has forced many residents to remain inside their home for weeks at a time.
Just as the city looked set to relax restrictions as case numbers continued to fall, authorities again tightened the rules earlier this week.
Notices issued in several districts ordered residents to stay home and barred them from receiving non-essential deliveries for several days.
On Friday, health authorities reported 1,869 new local asymptomatic coronavirus cases were recorded on May 12, up from 1,305 a day earlier.
Confirmed symptomatic cases rose from 144 to 227.
Despite the tight rules, Vivian said foreigners living in Shanghai were able to apply for an exemption to travel to the airport to leave China.
Vivian said the family also had to pay $600 for PCR tests before they travelled and one-way flight tickets cost them $9,000.
But their bid to leave China was further complicated after their eight-month-old daughter's passport was left in Suzhou, where they lived before moving to Shanghai.
Shanghai's restrictions made it almost "impossible" to pick up the passport, said Vivian.
But luckily, 48 hours before their flight, Vivian was able to retrieve the passport with the help of her husband's colleague. This involved paying $400 for a taxi driver to pick it up and courier it to Shanghai.
Vivian said she and a fellow passenger broke down in tears from their relief at being back on Australian soil after fleeing Shanghai.
'We felt completely abandoned'
Shanghai residents have struggled to get enough food, medical supplies and other basic goods during the lockdown.
Australian expats in the city who spoke to the ABC several weeks ago said they were at breaking point.
They also questioned whether the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFAT) could be more proactive about advocating for citizens forced from their homes or those seeking to leave the country.
A DFAT spokesperson told the ABC in a statement the Australian Consulate-General in Shanghai continued to "engage directly with local authorities on COVID-19 response measures, including in relation to access to the airport."
"We continue to provide consular assistance to Australians in Shanghai, including those seeking assistance to travel to the airport," they said.
In a previous statement, DFAT had said the Consulate-General had raised concerns about the separation of family members "at senior levels with the Chinese government", and was continuing to support the Australian community despite the ongoing challenges.
Shanghai officials have repeatedly emphasised that Shanghai has an abundant food supply, and the government was working hard to meet people's medical demands.
But Vivian said her family also struggled to get enough food during lockdown.
She said the only food they received from the local government in the first 14 days was a bag of vegetables on the first day.
Vivian said she was a member of two WeChat groups, each with about 500 expats from different countries wanting to leave Shanghai.
She said since returning to Australia she has had to put her WeChat on silent.
"I'm having trouble looking at it. I feel pretty overwhelmed if I open my chat messages and see what's still going on [in Shanghai]."
Shanghai resident also wants to get to Australia
It's not just foreigners feeling the impacts of the lockdown and wanting to flee Shanghai.
Shanghai resident Renee Yao, 23, is looking forward to leaving the lockdown to study in Melbourne later this year.
Ms Yao has booked a flight in July but is worried her schedule might be affected if the lockdown is still in place.
She has been stuck at home since March 24 and had struggled with a shortage of food supply and mental health issues.
"I cry a lot. And sometimes I don't even know what I'm crying about afterwards," she said.
Despite the challenges, Ms Yao said she was looking forward to her new life in Melbourne.
'I prefer to stay here'
Shanghai's strict lockdowns are part of China's COVID-zero policy, which has kept the country's borders closed since early in the pandemic.
President Xi Jinping recently re-emphasised the importance of sticking to the policy at a party conference earlier this month.
"We are resolutely fighting against all words and deeds that distort, doubt and deny China's epidemic prevention principles and policies," he said.
"We won the Wuhan defence battle and will win the great Shanghai defence battle without any doubt."
Despite the lack of certainty around the end to Shanghai's lockdown, some Australians remain unfazed.
Chinese Australian Will Lin said he had no plans to return to Australia, as his career in the financial analysis industry had just "gotten on track".
"I prefer to stay here," he said.
Mr Lin, a Sydneysider, moved back to China in early in 2020 for Lunar New Year just before the pandemic hit.
He said his experience of Shanghai's lockdown wasn't as bad as some others, despite being stuck in a hotel for 42 days.
"I don't need to worry about food. Our hotel provided breakfast and they ordered food deliveries for us for lunch and dinner," he said.
"We have heating and air-conditioning."
Mr Lin added the COVID situation in Shanghai was already getting better and he believed he would be out of lockdown before too long.
