A Chinese couple who were trapped in a sudden lockdown on their second date say they are engaged after a month of living together

• Zhao Xiaoqing visited a man on a second date when a swift COVID-19 lockdown trapped her in China.
• After spending a month together, the couple has decided to get married.

A Chinese woman trapped at a date's house during a lockdown said the couple is now engaged.

After meeting once on a blind date, Zhao Xiaoqing, 28, traveled to meet Zhao Fei at his family home in the city of Xianyang in December 2021, The New York Times reported.

When a sudden COVID-19 lockdown was declared in Xianyang, she found herself unable to return home to the city of Baoji, a roughly two-hour car ride away.

"Initially, I was quite worried about things being awkward," Zhao Xiaoqing told The New York Times. "But I got along well with his family."

Zhao Xiaoqing told local outlet Global Times that her date's family encouraged them to marry just one week into the lockdown, but she said it was too soon.

While stuck at his house, she continued her work promoting her family's apple business on Douyin, China's version of TikTok, according to The New York Times.

Zhao Xiaoqing told the paper that her date would often remind her to take breaks from work and cook her fried rice, and his consideration impressed her.

Zhao Fei, who runs an e-commerce business selling hair products, told The New York Times that the unusual circumstances meant that they bonded quicker than normal.

"We were able to move forward in a speedy fashion," he told the outlet.

Zhao Xiaoqing documented their blossoming love story on Douyin, Global Times reported.

In one video, she reportedly told her followers: "I found love during the quarantine. This is the biggest gift I had in 2021."

Chinese authorities lifted the lockdown restrictions on Friday, nearly four weeks after Zhao Xiaoqing arrived at her date's house.

Although she is now free to leave, Zhao Xiaoqing said she plans to stay until the Chinese New Year, The New York Times reported.

The outlet said that in a video on Douyin, she announced that the couple plan to get engaged in two weeks and hope to be married by this summer.

This lockdown love story has a happier ending than another woman in China trapped with a blind date in lockdown, and barely had a kind word to say her enforced company.