Xi is full of surprises. In the Monday newsletter I wrote that “later this week Xi should make his annual pre-Spring festival inspection tour”, a tour he has taken every year since 2013 in the days before the New Year. This year he stayed in Beijing and met with various groups around the country via video chat. If he does not make a trip before Saturday, thereby breaking the precedent of the last ten years, that may be another sign of how rough the Covid situation is.