BEIJING: Joye Liu knew she was taking a big risk when she traveled from Copenhagen, Denmark, on September 1 to visit her parents in Wuhan, China. It was her first visit since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2019, when she returned home for family gatherings during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
She paid 15,000 yuan ($2,160) for a one-way ticket from Copenhagen to Beijing with a stopover in Brussels, which is four to five times the normal pre-pandemic cost. Liu, who has received all of her vaccinations, had to pass a total of four PCR tests before she was allowed to board a Hainan Airlines flight from Brussels.
In fact, the plane landed in Xian in the western province of Shaanxi on Sunday, as Beijing splits the load of foreign passengers with other airports.
If Liu's test results come back negative, she will be sent to a railway station on Sunday, where she will attempt to board a train to Wuhan in the central region of Hubei province, spending seven days at a quarantine hotel in Xian. Afterwards.
This year, the Mid-Autumn Festival falls on a Saturday.
Liu announced, "I will spend the holidays in the quarantine hotel alone. I will make a toast to my parents' health and join them for the holiday meal via video call.
Liu, who works for a large pharmaceutical company, was barred from attending her mother's surgery in the spring. The zero-Covid policy in Beijing has reduced travel significantly.
In June, China reduced the quarantine period for foreign arrivals in government-run quarantine facilities to seven days, followed by an additional three days of home isolation, in a move towards easing its COVID-19 border restrictions. Took the first step.
The previous requirement was seven days of home isolation and 14 days of quarantine.
Although Liu's good news was welcomed, the 39-year-old now has other concerns. He is unsure whether he will be allowed out of the quarantine hotel on Sunday. Additionally, there is no longer a direct flight between Xian and Beijing, and the last train of the day departs at 3.14 pm.
It is not clear whether the residential community will accept her when she finally reaches Wuhan. Liu claimed she was allowed to self-isolate at her parents' home via the Internet, but was told she would not be allowed entry in the event of a widespread outbreak.
China has recently experienced a surge in cases as the number of infected areas reached record highs. Since the end of August, coronavirus restrictions have come into force in more than twenty cities across the country.
As of Wednesday, 151 asymptomatic cases were being medically monitored in Wuhan, with four confirmed cases being treated in hospitals.
There are many unknowns. When I finally pass through the gates of my parents' house, I'll only breathe a sigh of relief," Liu said. I didn't anticipate the journey to be that long.
To limit the spread of coronavirus during the holiday season, the National Health Commission (NHC) issued an advisory on Thursday.
A three-day public holiday has begun on Saturday for the Mid-Autumn Festival. National Day is a holiday from 1 October to 7 October.
From Saturday until the end of October, China will impose stricter COVID-19 travel rules, including two public holiday periods and the Communist Party's National Congress next month.
On or after Saturday, every passenger on an aircraft, train, inter-provincial bus, or ferry must submit a negative result from a 48-hour PCR test. Additionally, the NHC has urged travelers between provinces and territories to "voluntarily" submit to PCR tests upon arrival.
To celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, Zhu Zhuoyu, 36, from Chengdu in China's southwest, traveled with friends to far-flung places.
This year, such trips are not possible as the 21 million person city is on lockdown.
"I haven't celebrated the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival at home with mooncakes after dinner in many years. This time around, I'm stuck at home with my family," she said.
Since August 13, Chengdu during the most recent flare has recorded more than 1,600 Covid-19 infections, with about a third of the cases being asymptomatic. The entire city has been in a state of lockdown since September 1, making it the second major city in the country to do so after Shanghai for several months earlier this year.
There have been no cases reported in Xu's neighbourhood. A list of restaurants that have been approved by the government is available for delivery, and residents are allowed to go out to buy necessities once every two days. However, according to Xu, the quantity and variety of food offered on e-commerce platforms has been decreasing recently.
"Last night, I purchased some meat from an online retailer, but I skipped the vegetables. They were purchased, she claimed. "I set my alarm for 6 a.m. and got up to go grocery shopping. I fortunately obtained some. They were gone in a matter of minutes.
Not knowing when the lockdown will end is the most agonising aspect. I'm already down," she admitted. I'll make moon prayers during the festival. When I'm free, I'll hit the road and spend as much time in the wilderness as possible.
Engineer Zheng Xiwen, 45, of Beijing said he wanted to travel to Wuxi in the Jiangsu province's east to see his parents but decided against it due to the stringent, challenging Covid-19 control measures.
"I wanted to take my daughter, who is nine, to see them. My parents, who are in their 80s, are having trouble walking and are losing their sight. More time with them would be nice, Zheng said.
Zheng had to postpone travel because of outbreaks in Wuxi and Beijing earlier this year, when China was dealing with coronavirus surges. Travelers are frequently denied entry to their destinations despite having negative PCR test results because of various health code systems implemented by local governments that do not recognise results from other jurisdictions.
Travel restrictions are even stricter in Beijing, ostensibly to prevent the spread of viruses before the party congress. Until the location they are travelling from has had no new confirmed cases for seven days, users of the Beijing health-code app are prohibited from using any type of public transportation to get to the capital, according to a pop-up notification.
Although Wuxi is a low-risk location, I lack the courage to visit. Following business trips to other low-risk cities, some of my coworkers were unable to travel to Beijing, Zheng said. It's a very confusing system,
Some of Zheng's coworkers who spent seven days in a row in Tianjin, a city close to Beijing, were granted entry to the city last month. However, the NHC reports that 29 of mainland China's 31 provinces, including the municipality of Tianjin, have since reported Covid-19 infections.
"Going on a trip these days is like opening a mystery box. You can never predict what you'll get, Zheng said.
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