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 evening.
After returning home on Friday, November 12, 2021, I had 14 days of concentrated quarantine through Friday the 26th, followed by 7 days of home quarantine from Saturday the 27th through Friday the 3rd.
Now I've finally completed the entire quarantine mission. Every PCR test came back negative, my health code has turned green, and at last I can walk down the street with my head held high! Already 21 days have passed… Shanghai is said to have the lightest quarantine policy in all of China.
What Is China's Health Code?
To enter China, you need a green health code. This health code contains personal information such as your PCR test results and vaccination status for the novel coronavirus, and in China you use it to enter and leave various places.
The health code has three main states, as shown in the image below. Red, yellow, and green — it's also called the "traffic-light mission."
(Shanghai's health-code specifications)
Red… You're red during mandatory quarantine. It means you're a person requiring special attention, so if you go outside during mandatory quarantine, I'm pretty sure you'd get caught.
Yellow… You're yellow during home quarantine. Home quarantine means going home to isolate, but you're actually allowed to go outside. Of course, you have to hide the fact that your health code is yellow.
Green… Once you've completed the entire quarantine mission above and all the required PCR tests come back negative, it automatically turns green. With a green code you can go anywhere.
14 Days of Concentrated Quarantine and a Red Health Code
Concentrated quarantine means being required to stay 14 days at a designated hotel. In principle you pay for it yourself, which comes to roughly 100,000 yen. But if you're a close contact, you're moved to a hotel exclusively for close contacts, where meals, lodging, and everything else are free. As long as you don't test positive, that's actually kind of lucky!
If you do test positive, you're immediately taken to a hospital, and if you're a Chinese national you can receive treatment for free.
You're not given a room key, so you can't go outside. Your health code is red, your temperature is taken every day, and you're made to take PCR tests regularly, so if you went outside you'd definitely get caught. And if you got caught, I imagine you'd end up staying in prison.
7 Days of Home Quarantine and a Yellow Health Code
After concentrated quarantine comes 7 days of home quarantine. It's fine to think of it as going home to isolate and refraining from nonessential outings, but in fact there are quite a few places — like department stores and other spots prone to crowds — where you're asked to show a green health code at the entrance, so you can't get in.
That said, in Shanghai, the security guards at places like department stores don't check carefully, so I took a screenshot of my earlier green health code and managed to get in with that… but I can't recommend it. If you got caught, it seems you'd end up staying in prison.
In Beijing, on the other hand, you apparently have to scan a designated QR code with your latest green health code, so this trick doesn't work there.
You also have to take a PCR test on the first day and again on the seventh day. I went to a hospital near my home to take mine. They had a 24-hour PCR testing station set up, each test costs around 1,000 yen, and you can check the results online within 6 hours — great value for money.
Mini-apps do all the heavy lifting: you can book, pay, and check results with a single smartphone, so you can casually take a PCR test as part of a walk. The process goes as follows.
(The PCR testing process)
(How to book a PCR test online)
(The scene outside the hospital — unfortunately there was a line the first time)
(The testing takes place in a building that looks like a simple tent)
After Completing the Quarantine Mission, and a Green Health Code
At last I can walk down the street with my head held high!
I'm going to play to my heart's content.
I'm going to eat to my heart's content.
I'm going to drink to my heart's content.
Shanghai hairy crab is a must, of course
Loach and frog (home cooking looks kind of gross lol)
My beloved beef-tallow mala hotpot
Pork kidney and beef tripe are ridiculously good
Lamb skewers are a must too
Once in a while I have fancy, super-fine tofu — the pinnacle of the Chinese cleaver
Shanghai is overflowing with coffee shops
Deep autumn
Yum cha is a must too
Been a while, little Momiji
Finally got to have a highball!
A guy with a giant poodle-type dog
Breakfast is youtiao (fried dough sticks)
The only ingredient is taro, yet it tastes like lychee!
…and so on. Being back at my parents' place for the first time in two years is a lot of fun!
Of course, I'm doing my job properly too!
So for my next note post, I'm thinking of writing about China's mobile gaming market as seen through mahjong apps — if that interests you, please follow me!
You can find my other articles about this trip home right here!