This article reflects information as of 2021. For the latest details, please contact us.
Written by: Qian Yunwen, Director / PR, tentus inc.
Hello, everyone — good day and good evening!
I'm Qian, from Shanghai. I'm writing this note from a quarantine hotel in Shanghai.
It's been two years since my Chinese ID expired, and my bank account, credit card, WeChat Pay, Alipay, phone, driver's license renewal — everything became unusable. I heard that ID renewal can now be done online too, thanks to COVID, but it looked pretty troublesome, so I decided to go home for the first time in two years, partly to renew my ID.
China's strict COVID measures wore me out completely, my wallet is empty, and now I'm in the middle of 14 days of mandatory quarantine. Since I'm at it, I want to record my entire life until I return to Japan on note and compile it into the magazine below.
There's a video tour of the hotel room at the very end of this article! Check it out!
1. Booking the Flight
I decided to go home in August this year, and when I looked into flights, the number available was quite limited. Prices, of course, differed by airline. For example, ANA was 300,000 yen round-trip Tokyo–Shanghai, while China Eastern Airlines was around 170,000 yen... All of them seemed to be more than three times the usual price. Maybe I could have gotten a cheaper one through an agent, but I took the 170,000-yen one.
https://www.tokutenryoko.com/service/airticket/65#operation
2. Documents Required for Travel to China
Regardless of nationality, you must obtain the following documents within 48 hours before boarding the plane. Of course, foreign nationals also need a visa, so please check China's entry restrictions.
1) Double-negative certificate for antibody and antigen 2) Vaccine passport After preparing 1) and 2), 3) apply for the green health code At the Japanese airport, 4) China Customs entry/exit health declaration
3) The green health code is something you submit to the airline at the Japanese airport. You can board the plane once your health code has turned green.
"Green health code format"
Also, each airline has its own application deadline for the health code — the height of hassle! The earliest requires applying by 8:00 p.m. the day before departure from Japan.
"Health code application deadline"
4) The China Customs entry/exit health declaration is something you submit upon entry to China after arriving. You can apply from 24 hours before your scheduled arrival in China, so on the day of departure, at the Japanese airport, you enter your flight seat number via the designated WeChat mini program or website, complete the registration, and depart. There's application guidance at the airport, so don't forget!
Please screenshot and save the QR code shown after registration is complete. After arriving, I ended up submitting it to various people three or four times.
"China Customs entry/exit health declaration QR code"
3. How to Obtain Each Document
1) Double-negative certificate for antibody and antigen
You must be tested at the China-embassy-designated PCR testing facility below, following the Chinese format. What to watch out for: you need to obtain it within 48 hours before boarding the plane, and after obtaining it you have to apply for the "health code," so I recommend a clinic where you get tested two days before boarding and receive the results the same day.
https://www.mfa.gov.cn/ce/cejp//jpn/lszc/t1816068.htm
I paid out of pocket, and it cost a full 50,000 yen... I thought it would be 33,000 yen, but because of the Chinese format, an extra 10,000 yen was added, plus consumption tax... and all you get is a single sheet of paper.
"Chinese format of the double-negative certificate for antibody and antigen"
2) Vaccine passport
If you've been vaccinated, you can get it in 5 minutes by applying at your municipal office with your passport and vaccination certificate (the sticker one). There's no cost.
You can also choose "not vaccinated," so if you think obtaining a vaccine passport is a hassle, you may select that you haven't been vaccinated. That said, I don't know whether it affects obtaining the green health code.
"Vaccine passport format"
3) Green health code
After obtaining 1) and 2), you can apply for the health code from the designated WeChat mini program or website. Since I was double-negative, I was able to obtain the green health code without issue, but for those who have had COVID once, a different procedure is apparently required.
Applying via the WeChat mini program Search for "防疫健康码国际版 (Prevention Health Code International Version)" on WeChat.
Applying via website https://hrhk.cs.mfa.gov.cn/H5/
4. Preparations Ahead of Travel
1) Getting a WeChat account
As above, the WeChat mini program is quite active, and during mandatory quarantine, you communicate with the medical staff and hotel staff stationed at the hotel via a WeChat group, so it's easier to have it ready.
We communicate like the following. There are interpreters, too.
"Screenshot of the WeChat screen"
2) Reserving international roaming
When you enter China, there are times you have to scan a QR code and enter personal information, so rather than relying on the airport's sketchy Wi-Fi, I think it's faster and safer to use data roaming.
In fact, an older Japanese man stationed in China who sat to my left on the plane hadn't applied for the China Customs QR code at Narita Airport, and once we arrived, there was no internet, so he couldn't apply for the QR code and was panicking. I tethered for him. And an older Shanghai man who sat to my right had his iPhone auto-update before departure, so once we arrived there was no internet and he couldn't set it up, and was panicking. So I tethered for him, too... lol
Either way, I think you can solve it by asking someone, but to be ready for accidents, I think it's more reassuring to reserve international roaming in advance. I use au, so I can reserve a data-roaming plan in advance via the "World Data Teigaku" app!
3) A Chinese SIM card
After mandatory quarantine ends, you also have to obtain the health codes of the various places in China... Many of these require obtaining them via Alipay or the WeChat mini program. And when obtaining them, you're asked for SMS verification, so a Chinese phone number is required. Overseas phone numbers aren't supported.
Taking Shanghai as an example, it's managed as follows: red means "quarantine required," yellow means "self-restraint required," and green means "free to move about." There are places where submitting the health code is unnecessary and places where you must submit it, so having a Chinese phone number becomes necessary.
"Shanghai health code format"
4) Purchasing and setting up a VPN
Prepare this in advance, too!
Also, at first I used Express VPN, but perhaps because it was during the free trial period, it wouldn't connect at all, so I ended up using the VPN at the URL below. I use the 700-yen-a-month plan. That said, it seems to be only in Chinese, and the setup is a bit complicated, so I don't recommend it for those who aren't fluent in Chinese.
You need to register an account from the start. http://wolun8.com/user
5) Items you need for 14 days of mandatory quarantine
Bring an electric kettle and instant food!
Depending on the hotel, the electric kettle can be really dirty, so I recommend bringing a compact-sized electric kettle. Also, the meals are real Chinese food rather than Chinese-Japanese food, so if it doesn't suit your palate, tough it out with instant food!
I also recommend bringing an HDMI cable and exercise gear!
Chinese hotels have quite large TVs (the TV in the hotel I'm staying at now is about 60 inches), so if you can't mirror, you can enjoy movies and such on the TV with an HDMI cable, which I recommend! I didn't bring one and am regretting it.
Also, room sizes vary, but you can probably move around more freely than in a Japanese hotel, so to relieve lack of exercise, bring compact-sized exercise gear, too!
5. From Entry into China to the Start of 14 Days of Mandatory Quarantine
I finally arrived at Narita and was able to board the plane safely!
Everyone except the passengers was in protective gear, which looked tough. Some passengers were wearing protective gear, too. Honestly, up until this summer I could have understood this level of strictness, but I felt it might be a bit over the top by now. Still, it's all being done for each person's safety, so even if it's hard to understand, there's no choice but to understand it.
The in-flight meals are individually wrapped and placed in the seat pocket in advance.
I sneakily photographed someone who played mahjong the whole time until landing. lol
Right before entering China, a PCR test right away!
They do both nose and saliva... My nose was poked so deep it felt like my brain would come out, so I was shocked. When I blurted out that it was totally different from the PCR test in Japan, they replied that everyone who comes back from overseas says that.
After entering and picking up my luggage, I was made to register personal information again and got the QR code below. It's really tiring... Older people are probably getting the most training in phone use of their entire lives. lol
Only after obtaining the QR code above could I finally leave. Everyone's got it tough...
The routes for foreign and Chinese nationals differ a bit until entry, but in the end you go to the district of your place of residence. I'm going to "Changning District." There were quite a few Japanese people, too.
This is the "Changning District" reception. Here you wait for the bus to the hotel. The hotel is also random, and you don't know until you arrive.
Once you arrive at the hotel, your luggage is disinfected. It's starting to look kind of like Ghostbusters. lol
It's cool in the evening now, but in summer everyone would die, right...
From here, the 14 days of quarantine life finally begin! I was worn out, and by 11 p.m. that day I was already so sleepy I slept like a log until 9 a.m. Sigh.
6. A Video Tour of the Quarantine Hotel
The hotel I'm staying at is "Jiahong Hotel" in "Changning District." It's right next to Hongqiao Airport and is a fully dedicated quarantine hotel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92L5RynvD6Y
That's it! What did you think? Did just reading it tire you out a little, too? lol
From here I'd like to record my meals and life after leaving the hotel, too, so please follow and watch!
Also, adding up the costs of the flight, procedures, hotel, and so on, the total came to about 350,000 yen... If sales go up, a year-end bonus might be in the cards, too, so please give us work! Thank you in advance! lol
If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments!