/r/China has unfortunately become increasingly dominated by Americans who have little to no knowledge of China. It's one of the most bizarre national subreddits, in that it's become a forum for people outside the country to hate on the country.

I speak Chinese and know lots of people in China. That's how I know what's going on. I'm not reliant on Reddit threads. My friends in China have been doing normal things throughout the pandemic, like going to restaurants with their elderly relatives or going to crowded tourist venues (inside China). They can't easily travel internationally, because they will have to quarantine on returning to China, but they can live a pretty normal life inside the country.

I can back you up on this. I lived in China in 2017-2018 and have friends in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing. As skeptical as I am of Chinese reportings, it really does sound like they've kept Covid under control for the last year and a half. Everyone I know there is doing normal things and has moved on with their lives, with the caveat that -- as you said -- international travel is all but impossible. A few of my friends who went on vacation outside of China during Chinese New Year 2020 have still not been allowed to go back.

A few months ago, a Shenzhen friend said she had to go on a business trip to Shanghai, and was a little worried because there had been 2 reported Covid cases in the last few weeks. Another friend, earlier in the pandemic, would mockingly send me US statistics of million of Americans getting Covid, and that it's nearly eradicated China.

It frightens me to think of what means they took to get these ends, but I really do believe they have it under control.