(It's absolutely terrific--and I never made it far in the book.) Vulture:
Our main access road to the cabin set, only one way in and one way out — it’s the road that we brought all the equipment in and brought the cast in, and it was meant to be pristine. In the story, it’s post-pandemic. There are no cars! So Patrick came up with this brilliant idea that even though we’re post-pandemic, there’s one guy with a snowplow. He was like, “Why not! There could be a guy with a snowplow, and he’s clearing the road.” So we got a snowplow guy to clear the road, and that justified what was required for us to be able to shoot those scenes.
Slate also has a long interview with adapted by Patrick Somerville, who adapted the novel.
Meanwhile, in the real world:
Went to get a PCR test in Sanya, Hainan, in preparation for flying back to Beijing. The lady taking the swabs was dressed in a full airtight suit. pic.twitter.com/kTLyeS2Ko3
— Gabriel Corsetti (@GabrielCorsetti) January 16, 2022