When this Shanghai building went into COVID lockdown, my WeChat message group blew up

A police officer watches over residents lining up for COVID tests Shanghai. (Chen Si / AP)

For nine years, I lived in a giant apartment complex called the Summit with hundreds of other people in the city of Shanghai.

My family and I left China months before the pandemic, but I still stay in touch with some of my former neighbors through the group messaging platform WeChat, which is where I saw this video.