Banners warning that playing cards together is suicide and guards yelling at crowds to separate: a Chinese city near the coronavirus ground zero remains far from normal even after emerging from a two-month lockdown.

Huanggang, home to 7.5 million people, was among the worst-affected areas in Hubei, the province where the new coronavirus first emerged late last year before morphing into the deadly pandemic now raging across the planet.

Travel restrictions were loosened on Wednesday and — if healthy — people were allowed to leave Hubei, where more than 50 million people were placed under lockdown in January to prevent the spread of the virus.

But warnings were prominently displayed across Huanggang city to remind people that the virus still posed a threat as they returned to the streets.

"Gathering to play cards is suicide," said a red banner hanging by the roadside.

"If you don't wear a mask, the virus will fall in love with you," warned another.

Restaurants in the city re-opened — but diners weren't allowed to eat inside.

Instead, delivery drivers collected takeout orders from different shops on one food street lined with red lanterns, as a handful of customers ate at tables outside.

Several hotels remained closed. Others offered only a small number of rooms to guests.

Nearly 3,000 people were infected and 125 died in Huanggang, which is now considered a low-risk area.

Like other regions in Hubei, people can travel in and out of the city if they have a "green" health status on a special phone app.

It is a big change from earlier this year, when Hubei was placed under lockdown to fight the virus, which was traced to a market in the province's capital Wuhan.

But despite the easing of restrictions, Huanggang is still on edge, and officials repeatedly told AFP that the situation was still "not safe".

Reporters were made to cover up their vented N95 masks with additional surgical masks before being allowed to leave the train station, where guards shouted at crowds of passengers not to stand too close together.

– 'Need to take care' –

But with transport curbs easing, thousands of people have taken their chance to travel in or out of Hubei.

AFP saw busy waiting rooms at several railway stations, and packed sleeping compartments on trains.

Many Huanggang residents jumped at the chance to be outside.

Around 20 people queued to get into the Wanda Plaza mall, where shoppers had their temperature checked and showed a health code before being allowed inside.

Some businesses inside the mall were offering "re-opening discounts", and posted signs reassuring customers that the stores have been thoroughly disinfected.

One pancake seller who didn't want to be named told AFP that Thursday was her first day back at work.

Being out of the house felt "freer", she said, but business is "definitely not as good as before".

Wearing the obligatory face masks, a group of young women walked arm-in-arm down the street, deciding on lunch options.

Chen Wenjun, a 22-year-old pharmacist, ate near a street food stall with two friends.

She said she was happy to finally be out after weeks cooped up at home, but was not letting her guard down: "Even though a lot of things have been opened, we still need to take care."

Hubei residents rush to leave China virus epicentre as lockdown lifts
Macheng, China (AFP) March 25, 2020 –

Huge crowds jammed trains and buses in Hubei province on Wednesday as people seized their first chance to travel after two months under lockdown at the epicentre of China's coronavirus outbreak.

Strict curbs on daily life are finally being lifted, allowing healthy people to head home and see loved ones after weeks of separation.

At a railway station in the city of Macheng, AFP reporters saw long lines of people lugging suitcases in the rain as they queued for trains.

Children in masks were among those waiting, while guards directed the crowds and station announcements offered details of trains to destinations across the country.

Footage from state news agency Xinhua showed migrant workers in Huanggang — one of the cities worst-hit by the coronavirus outbreak — queuing for long-distance coaches with bags and suitcases.

One unnamed worker said he was returning to Wenzhou in eastern Zhejiang province.

"I have been at home in Hubei for more than two months," he said.

Railway stations and airports began opening from Wednesday — with the exception of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei where the virus is believed to have emerged late last year at a food market selling wild animals.

But thirty highways leading into Wuhan were re-opened as of Wednesday morning, state media said, with videos showing the roads jam-packed.

Businesses in the province have also returned to work.

Diners at one Macheng eatery that reopened Wednesday were given a steaming bowl of water to disinfect their dishes — a new measure prompted by the outbreak.

"Locally, things have not completely returned to how they were before," the restaurant's manager Wu Guoqing told AFP.

At a nearby amusement park, locals strolled in masks around neon-lit rides while a few people stepped into the cars of a creaky Ferris wheel.

Signs reminded visitors to stand one metre apart from each other in queues and children played by a lit-up fountain as music blasted from loudspeakers.

– Homecoming –

Hubei natives are also taking the chance to return home from elsewhere in China.

Guo Wei, a teacher who works in Beijing, told AFP she had grabbed the first available ticket back to her hometown on Wednesday morning.

It was the first time she had been able to return to Hubei since the epidemic started, she said.

"It's been too difficult!" she said, getting off the train with several bags.

People are now allowed to travel in or out of Hubei as long as they have a "green" health code issued by authorities showing they are not infected by the virus which has claimed more than 3,200 lives in China.

Beijing ordered the shutdown of Hubei in January to contain the spread beyond the province but has been gradually easing rules as numbers have dwindled.

In recent days residents have been allowed to move about and return to work — although schools remain closed.

At a highway checkpoint outside the Hubei city of Xiaogan, a teacher told Xinhua he was heading back to school in southern Guangdong province.

"I've stayed in Xiaogan for over two months," he said, adding it would take him 14 hours to complete the journey.

"I'm very happy to be finally returning to work."