Travel from USA to China during COVID 19
Required by Chinese law, I am quarantining at a hotel for the next 14 days in Guangzhou along with other travelers from the USA. Reflecting on my travel journey, I want to share this experience with curious people and any future travelers going through the same route under similar conditions. So here I am! I am Chinese and had lived in the USA for four years. Cantonese and Mandarin are my native languages. However, since it was the first time to go back to China after a while in the midst of uncertainties, I was stumbling.
Before Departure
- Buy flyable flight tickets
- Get a green health pass for the flight on WeChat
- Pack strategically
Buy flyable flight tickets
The world knows how difficult it is to plan travels during COVID 19, especially to the tighter countries. If you have to travel to China at this time, your trips must be important. Due to travel restrictions that were subject to constant changes, there were only eight flights between the USA and China weekly as of September.
I was confused for a couple of times when buying tickets in July. The first time I bought a ticket from SF to Guangzhou via Hong Kong on united.com, because I assumed that it could fly as long as the tickets were offered. I was wrong. I realized that air travel was banned between Hong Kong and Mainland China, so it wouldn’t make any sense. I canceled the ticket and bought a different one. Then United canceled it a week later saying it couldn’t fly due to country policies. I found that airlines wouldn’t keep up with the policy changes so it would be on the travelers to do the research. I recommend future travelers track the announcements from the Department of Transportations in both the USA and China to learn the officially permitted flights before making any booking. Noting down the flight numbers and dates of departure, you could go to the airline websites and search for the exact flights. Eventually, I booked a one-way ticket through China Southern Airlines, which cost around $3000.
Get a green health pass for the flight on WeChat
It sounds complicated but let me explain. All travelers from the USA to China were required to report their health conditions 14 days prior to their departure using the WeChat App. For new WeChat users, search “WeChat” in your app store and you shall find it. WeChat is a multi-functioned messaging app that is widely used in China for almost everything, so you would want to get familiar with it before your travel. I would recommend primarily familiarize with the QR code scanning feature, how to use the mini-programs within the apps, and the payment. Of course, you might want to add one or two Chinese contacts in case you are lost in translation.
Find the QR code scanner in WeChat:
Use it to scan the code below for accessing the mini-program where you would report your health information:
You would use the program to answer a questionnaire daily on how you felt physically, whether you had symptoms, whether you went out in public with or without masks, etc. Once your responses were approved after reporting for 14 consecutive days you would get a green pass — a green QR code with a flight icon on it. I would need this to get checked in at the airport.
Starting from September 15, all passengers are required to possess a COVID 19 certificate with negative results to fly to China, according to an announcement from the Chinese consulate in the USA. The negative results must come out within three days before the departure. This requirement might add another layer of stress. Luckily, there were already many COVID test providers in SF. The Color COVID test took 1–3 days for getting you the results (link), or you could also use the website approved by the Chinese embassy to schedule a test with a provider. It would definitely require some planning because the lead times need to be calculated. If you run late, I noticed a few paid providers that guarantee travelers to get the results in time, such as My Doctor Medical Group.
Once you got the certificate, you would need to upload it to the same mini program on WeChat. Then you would get a green pass — a green QR code with “HS” on it — once it’s approved by a Chinese consulate staff member.
Pack strategically
Traveling to another country would usually involve a lot of packing. Pack wisely for this trip, considering that you might need to lift and carry the items on occasions like going through the declaration, loading them to the bus, or lifting them to your hotel room.
Departing
- San Francisco to Los Angeles wasn’t complicated
- Tighter measures at check-in and boarding
- No fun in the air but tolerable
San Francisco to Los Angeles wasn’t complicated
I picked United for the domestic trip because I needed to use the flight vouchers from my canceled bookings. I was happy to choose the business class because it was almost the same price as an economy ticket plus two checked bags, and it gave two free checked bags with a generous 70 lbs max weight for each. Some stores were still open in the SFO terminal for picking up coffee and snacks. I wore a mask the whole time in the terminal and on the plane except for eating and drinking. This trip wasn’t complicated, but the smoke seen in the sky was heartbreaking.
Tighter measures at check-in and boarding
There was a waiting line for the China Southern Airlines counter. People traveled to LAX from different cities because the flight options are limited. To make it less fun, no stores or shops were open in the terminal, and the seating areas fell short. Therefore I decided to hang out outside of the terminal until the line was gradually shorter. I could feel the tightness of the measures around this counter. The flight attendants in full protective gear (suit, goggles, mask) checked my temperature and green pass QR code before I got my bags checked. I arrived at the airport around 6 pm and I got through the checkpoint around 10 pm.
The information screen said that my departure time was on time at 11:50 pm. Most restaurants were closed at that point, so I hung out in a quieter waiting area to enjoy some sandwiches and YouTube time. I went to the Gate when it was 11:10 pm and I was surprised that the boarding was almost finished!
Keep your boarding pass because you would need it after landing.
No fun in the air but tolerable
I wasn’t prepared for a flight with no entertainment and service, but there I was on my seat discovering that I would only have a bag of snacks for this 14-hour flight. No beverage or drinks, warm food, or headsets were served due to COVID 19. Blankets were provided though. I was slightly disgruntled. But then I saw the flight attendants sweating in their protective gear during the whole flight and the mothers who had to stay up to take care of their babies and kids. Their sacrifices shut my inner complaints effectively.
Entertainment and services were replaced with three temperature checks at the beginning, middle, and end of the flight. Passengers were required to wear masks during the flight. On the bright side, it was a quiet trip which made sleep easier. I am a sleeper on long-distance flights, and my secret is a comfortable eye mask.
Landing
- The wait in the airplane
- 6 hours from the airport to quarantine hotel
- Start the 14-day enforced quarantine
Wait in the airplane
Finally, our plane landed at Baiyun Airport in Guangzhou. Passengers were required to wait inside the plane for the staff members in the airport to get prepared. While waiting, the flight attendants suggested us to prepare for filling in another questionnaire to get a new QR code for getting through the customs. It required to access another mini program on WeChat, and I couldn’t do it because I didn’t have any data on phone. So I waited until getting on the ground where I had plenty of time to do it.
6 hours from the airport to my quarantine hotel
We were instructed to stay in a waiting area to get prepare for a COVID test before going through the customs. A sign there said that I would need to get another pass using WeChat before the test, the one that the flight attendant mentioned. So I got the airport WiFi, scanned the program QR code on the sign to get the program, and answer the questionnaire. The questionnaire was similar to the one for getting the flight QR code, with more questions about your flight information. I was glad that I still kept my boarding pass.
It was a long wait before I was directed to give my consent for giving my sample. The boarding pass was also required at this step. Then I went to get swabbed. It was a similar process of getting swabbed in SF. Just relax and think that it would be done soon. It took around 3 hours from landing in the airport to getting tested.
After giving my samples, I walked through the customs. When I saw my baggage in the baggage claim, I thought they might have waited for me for a while. Then I happily walked to the exit.
Before the exit, it was sadly another long wait. The hotel allocation was random, so I was standing in line with all my luggage. Fatigue was calling, but it was almost the end. I was directed to a bus in the parking lot outside, along with some other passengers. After loading the luggage to the bus and getting seated, a staff member handed each of us a mask and a paper explaining the 2-week quarantine for observation. Unfortunately, it was only written in Chinese, the same for a lot of instructions after arriving in the quarantine hotel. It basically told us that we were required by law to have a 2-week quarantine in a designated hotel. The staff member would take our passports for check-ins. There would be instructions in the hotel room for going about the quarantine. The bus ride took around 40 minutes, and we finally arrived in a hot springs resort.
Start the 14-day enforced quarantine
I was randomly taken to a hotel in a hot springs area. Entering the hotel, the staff in a protective suit and goggles checked my temperature, sanitized my luggage and shoe bottoms, and told me to my hotel room. That’s it, no physical interaction with the staff because everything would be digital.
There were instructions in my room in Chinese. The instructions included: 1) Scan the QR code provided to join the quarantine WeChat group for communications; 2) Three meals would be delivered at the door at 8 am, 12 pm and 6 pm; 3) How to access WiFi.
After joining the group, the hotel host showed up and told us that it would be a platform for all the questions and issues. The staff was very responsive and friendly. A couple of Americans were quarantined in the same hotel and they seemed frustrated by the unfriendly experience for non-Chinese speakers. It was understandable. Not every Chinese was fluent in English, and it was in the countryside. I offered my help to the host to solve some issues for the American guests.
A couple of medical staff in protective gear came to check my temperature and give me WeChat contact of a nearby hospital and some instructions. The instructions said that I could contact them if I have concerns about my physical and mental health. Their working hours were 8am-10 pm.
In the next two weeks, I couldn’t go out of my room except for getting food at the door. In spite of the long journey, I felt welcomed and taken care of. The price for the quarantine was around $758 for the room and the meals combined. To pay for the quarantine, as you might expect, was through WeChat by scanning a QR code. The host sent a QR code that represented their account to the group, and each one could just pay by scanning the QR code using payment methods such as WeChat Pay, Ali Pay, Yinlian, etc.
That’s my sharing of experience with you. Below are some noteworthy things I noticed from my trip. Best luck and feel free to share your experience in the comment area.
The noteworthy
Task members deserve applause
It was higher than 30 Celsius or 84 Fahrenheit in Guangzhou. All the task members who helped the passengers transit to the quarantine hotels were in protective gear that seems scorching. The flight attendants, the medical staff, the customs staff, the transport staff, and the hotel staff. I would give my salute to their support for the travelers.
Temperature check
Chinese takes COVID 19 and the measures seriously. Your temperature would get checked many times along the way. Get prepared for showing your forehead on the flight and the airport. During quarantine, my temperature was checked twice a day — the medical staff came to take it in the morning, and I report it myself in the afternoon.
Identity verification for digital activities
I needed a Chinese phone number or an ID to get access to airport WiFi. I felt surprised to be authenticated for accessing public WiFi. Later I learned that two things are essential to go about your life in China — an ID-verified phone number and WeChat. How to navigate the digital life in China could a post itself.
WeChat is heavily used
I hope that the telling of my journey communicated how heavily WeChat App was used in China. The experience for non-Chinese users might be less friendly, but feel free to approach the staff members for help as they are always friendly.
