Life in Shanghai largely returned to normal on Wednesday when the lockdown was officially lifted.

Residents not living in lockdown and controlled zones can now leave their compounds freely, and all forms of public transportation have resumed operations. The cross-river tunnels which had been closed for over 60 days have also been reopened.

Xiong Xiong, the person in charge of the People's Square metro station, one of the largest transfer stations in the city, said that peak passenger flow on Wednesday morning was about one third of the usual and the metro operation is smooth.

People could be seen walking and jogging along the Bund at dawn, while others in the vicinity queued for nucleic acid testing. Many venues in the city now require visitors to show proof that they had undergone a nucleic acid test which returned negative within the 72 hours prior to entry.

According to Zhao Dandan, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission, around 15,000 nucleic acid sampling sites, of which about 5,000 are accessible to the public, are currently operational in the city.