1 of 19
Fans dancing at an electronic music festival, long lines at breakfast stands, gridlocked traffic - the scenes in coronavirus ground zero Wuhan these days would have been unthinkable in January.
Image Credit: AFP
2 of 19
People walking around a night market in Wuhan. The central Chinese city's recovery after a 76-day lockdown was lifted in April has brought life back onto its streets.
Image Credit: AFP
3 of 19
The queues snaking outside breakfast stands are a far cry from the terrified crowds that lined up at the city's hospitals in the first weeks after the city was quarantined in January to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Image Credit: AFP
4 of 19
The hazmat suits and safety goggles that were once the norm have given way to umbrellas and sun hats as tourists shield themselves from the scorching summer sun, posing for photos in front of the city's historic Yellow Crane Tower.
Image Credit: AFP
5 of 19
But all is not back to normal. Business remains slow in Wuhan, a city of 11 million people where the coronavirus was first detected late last year before it unleashed a global pandemic.
Image Credit: AFP
6 of 19
"In the first half of the year, we only opened some projects that had been decided before the outbreak," Hu Zeyu, an employee at a local real estate company, tells AFP. "Business volume has been greatly reduced."
Image Credit: AFP
7 of 19
Food stall owner Yang Liankang says things are improving slowly, with sales growing from around 300 yuan ($28.72) a day a month ago to more than 1,000 yuan. "It's not as good as my ideal," he says.
Image Credit: AFP
8 of 19
In some Wuhan neighbourhoods, plastic barriers ubiquitous during the lockdown continue to restrict traffic.
Image Credit: AFP
9 of 19
Many of the people first found to be infected worked at the Huanan Seafood Market, which was sealed off by the authorities. It still stands empty behind blue barriers. Some vendors have reopened their stalls elsewhere.
Image Credit: AFP
10 of 19
Wuhan has also had time to look back on its trauma, though only some memories make it into the official narrative. | Above: People dancing during next to the Yangtze River in Wuhan.
Image Credit: AFP
11 of 19
At a pandemic-themed exhibition, families peer through glass at autographed hazmat suits used by medical workers at the height of Wuhan's outbreak, in an attempt to document an unprecedented period in the city's history.
Image Credit: AFP
12 of 19
China has largely brought its domestic epidemic under control, but sporadic outbreaks and a summer of severe flooding have exacerbated the economic fallout.
Image Credit: AFP
13 of 19
Despite fears of a resurgence, some Wuhan residents are keen to enjoy the city's recovery. "Now I enjoy every day as if it were the last," says Hu Fenglian. "I don't want to worry too much."
Image Credit: AFP
14 of 19
People buying food on a street in Wuhan in Chinas central Hubei province.
Image Credit: AFP
15 of 19
A vendor wearing a face mask as she works at her stall in a market in Wuhan.
Image Credit: AFP
16 of 19
A woman doing manicures for clients at a night market in Wuhan.
Image Credit: AFP
17 of 19
A man selling food on a street in Wuhan.
Image Credit: AFP
18 of 19
People visiting the Yellow Crane Tower in Wuhan.
Image Credit: AFP
19 of 19
A woman checking clothes for sale at a night market in Wuhan.
Image Credit: AFP