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Emily Mao, second from left, joined a co-living community of students in Hangzhou, China, who are studying online — often overnight — at US and Canada-based colleges and universities.
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From the outside, this apartment in Hangzhou, China looks nondescript. But inside, there’s a hive of activity. Six students from across China have formed a study pod and are rooming together in a co-living community.
Kept from their colleges and universities in the US and Canada due to pandemic-related travel restrictions, they’re making the best of it by studying remotely — together.
One of the residents is Emily Mao, a sophomore at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Fearing for her health and safety in the US, Mao’s parents made her return to China last March as China began to return to normal but caseloads in North America got more serious. She spent months living with them while attending her regularly scheduled classes online.