I've been locked in the coronavirus epicenter of Wuhan for the last twenty one days. I had the chance to evacuate, but the prospect of sharing recycled air for fifteen hours with hundreds of possibly infected peers on an over priced one-way trip to an undisclosed quarantine location just didn't appeal to me.The government keeps suggesting this plague will be over in a few more days, and these assurances are often followed by more emergency restrictions. We're then told we can rest assured because the new measures will definitely fix the problem. Days later, the cycle will repeat itself. Yesterday, further restrictions were enacted barring people from leaving their apartment complexes. Only one person a household is allowed outside every two or three days to buy food and medicine.New infection cases are allegedly dropping every day, but last night I learned the authorities recently issued new medical guidelines saying those who tested positive for the virus without showing symptoms wouldn't be counted for official infection numbers. I woke up this morning to news that new infections, which had been dropping for a week, suddenly exploded by 15,000. That number more than four times higher than the highest previously recorded day. The truth of the situation has been impossible to discern from the beginning, and it looks like it might remain opaque long after the virus is contained. Many people, both Chinese and foreign, are slowly growing infuriated at the mismanagement and lies.Civilization is more fragile than we typically think. Modern Americans have never experienced a serious crisis of this kind. The last time America faced anything like a civilizational collapse was the Great Depression, but nobody under the age of 85 remembers it. I'm not yet experiencing a civilizational collapse in Wuhan, but I am experiencing the near total shutdown of daily life, which could be the beginning phase of collapse. This city of 11 million, and tens of millions outside Wuhan, just witnessed their society morph from a bustling nonstop commercial and cultural center to what looks like a desolate ghost city in the course of mere hours. Millions fled Wuhan in a single morning to escape a quarantine they feared would lock them inside an apocalyptic infection zone. Black swan events are totally unexpected, and yet they have a profound impact on history. Who predicted the Black Death would wipe out a third of Europe's population? Did the pre-Columbian American inhabitants think it possible that Christians would arrive and erase their ancient worlds? Did Wuhan expect a virus to shut down over half of China's economy in 2020? Things can change fast. I was expecting to spend my winter holiday in coffee shops and traveling to Xinjiang . Instead, I find myself trapped in the epicenter of an international viral outbreak giving interviews to international news organizations over Skype.I've been taking long walks every few days for exercise. These walks are often surreal. I find myself strolling through a deserted metropolis under empty skyscrapers and walking freely in the middle of highways and intersections. Everything is so quiet I was once frightened by the wind dragging a leaf across the cement.I walked four miles to the grocery store the other day and found myself returning through a huge deserted wasteland of a construction zone. It covered at least a square mile and looked as though it had been under construction for more than a year. Of course, now it's totally abandoned. Huge cranes dangle over empty concrete skeletons, a whole highway with overpasses terminates in rolling dust piles, a colossal mausoleum shaped building the size of a stadium rots a mile away, and rusting construction vehicles are scattered about. This area probably wasn't abandoned just because of the viral outbreak, I'm pretty sure it emptied long before as one of China's many unfinished development projects.In some ways, Wuhan seems to function without humanity. Empty bullet trains fly by over elevated tracks, drones hover in the air, and helicopters circle from time to time. Theoretically, humans are directing these mechanical objects, and yet they're rarely seen to be in control. I can't help but think about the futuristic video game Nier: Automata which features a robot war ostensibly fought in the name of a humanity later discovered to have died out centuries before.Most of my information is garnered through China's social media app WeChat . I'm a member of several groups that include hundreds of people. The groups are buzzing with speculation and links, and the members attack each other and spread gossip. Most of us don't even know each other. There's an eerie nature to this kind of interaction. We're all trapped inside our apartments cowering away from an invisible predator, and we comfort ourselves by interacting with the ghosts of humanity manifested as software avatars.China is losing foreigners, but this virus driven exodus is just an accelerated version of an ongoing withdrawal that began sometime in the last few years. Crackdowns are ongoing, the internet is increasingly censored, and the Sino-American Cold War is probably just beginning. Hysteria is in the air. A widely circulated rumor is that the coronavirus is a bioweapon engineered by the United States and unleashed on China. Following tradition, China tends to blame all it's problems on the dreaded "foreigner" rather than analyzing itself and making adjustments. If America attacked China, so the logic goes, then the Chinese don't have to reconsider their consumption of monkey brain, live mice, or bats. They don't have to reform their habits of spitting everywhere and allowing their kids to defecate in public. They can continue ignoring soap. They can retain their belief that hot water cures every illness. Sadly, this virus is just furthering the divide between China and the rest of the world. Many Chinese lash out at the international press and imaginary offenses instead of implementing needed reforms.I hate to see this. There was a time, even within my memory, when China was opening up to the world and earnest to interact with and learn from others. This opportunity was taken by thousands of missionaries to spread the gospel to one of the last major regions on earth that's never been deeply influenced by Christianity. Back then, millions of Chinese were embracing Jesus' lordship, and there were estimates that Christianity would rapidly grow to dominate China's spiritual landscape. Those pleasant days seem gone. China's constitution guarantees freedom of religion, and yet that right seems increasingly curtailed. There's an oft repeated claim that persecution strengthens the church. Unfortunately, it's not often true. Christianity has risen and fallen in China before, and Christianity in the Middle East was slowly strangled after the Islamic conquests. The coronavirus will accelerate crackdowns on anything discrediting the current government, and that includes Christianity with it's spiritual challenge to atheistic Marxism.We're all worried about the future. China's economy has been slowing for a decade. According to just about everyone, there are huge economic bubbles that will eventually burst. Salaries are already being reduced as a result of the virus. Small businesses are declaring bankruptcy. The coronavirus may set off a chain reaction that damages the entire country. Or it might not, and everything will return to normal. Only God knows. Pray for Wuhan, pray for China.