December 6 was the day where we would finally travel back to the Middle Kingdom.
We began the day by heading over to SFO, where we were a bit taken aback at how crowded the airport was, especially at the gate where people were waiting to board!
This was a recurring theme for our voyage back. After a 13-hour flight, we arrived back on Chinese soil for the first time in over ten months at Pudong International Airport in Shanghai, where we were greeted with yet another incredulously crowded environment. I found it very surprising because through the whole transit, there was no concept of social distancing whatsoever. In fact, on arrival, we were not allowed to enter the terminal until nearly one hour after landing, so many of the passengers literally waited in the jetbridge!
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| We were held behind these glass doors for nearly one hour, presumably to ensure the terminal was evacuated of any non-international travelers. Note the white suits used by the personnel! |
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| Finally we were able to enter the terminal, which was completely empty. |
I suppose that Chinese authorities could reason that everyone on the flight went through the rigorous "Double Negative" COVID testing, so the risk of transmission should be low, and besides, everyone was headed off to mandatory quarantine anyway. After we were finally allowed to enter the now-empty terminal, we were directed to register our arrival and conduct on-site COVID tests right at the airport before we could depart.
After we got our COVID tests (the kids really hate the nasal swab!), we were directed to different lines depending our our final destinations to board buses to our mandatory quarantine locations:
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| Waiting for the Quarantine Shuttle |
After a long ride into the city, we finally arrived at our home for the next 14 days - what appeared to be a dilapidated Holiday Inn Express which was probably scheduled to be demolished until COVID hit, creating a demand for quarantine hotels.
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| Step 1: Get disinfected by men in protective suits. I'm not sure this disinfectant wasn't bleach, because it discolored some of our clothes!!! |
We ended up getting two adjacent rooms, so we could still visit with each other during our quarantine. Some notes about quarantine:
- It is self-paid by the traveler.
- You literally cannot leave the room at any time for a full 14 24-hour periods. Since we arrived at 11PM, that meant we could not leave until 11PM the 14 days later.
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| During the Isolation Period, Leaving the Room is Strictly Prohibited |
- Meals are delivered and left outside the door on a bench. You are expected to wait for a few minutes for the personnel to leave before opening your door to bring the meals in. Meals are also self-paid by the traveler.
- Staff came by daily in protective suits to take your temperature three times a day.
- On about Day 10, staff arrived to take yet another COVID test. If it was negative by Day 14, then you were eligible to finally leave the hotel.
Some scenes from Quarantine Life:
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| We couldn't go outside, so I looked out the window a lot... |
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| A sample breakfast |
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| A sample lunch |
We passed our time in numerous ways. Cherry and I continued to maintain our daily workout regimen (often around 2 hours a day!), but we also passed the time by:
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| Playing video games |
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| Watching Movies |
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| Writing |
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| Continuing to attend online classes at midnight with school in Cedar Rapids |
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| Watching College Football |
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| Pretending to roast marshmallows
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Late at night on Day 14, we were freed from the hard quarantine. Since it was late at night, we decided to find a temporary spot before moving on to Chengdu. Interestingly, if our final destination was Shanghai, we would have been considered completely free to roam. However, once we returned to Chengdu, we would be subjected to another 7+7: 7 days of self isolation at home (not allowed to leave home), and 7 days of not allowed to enter public spaces. This is controlled via a mandatory "Health Code" which identifies your risk level and tracks your movements (by way of voluntary "check in" - the app does NOT track your GPS location).
That said, we identified a bit of a loophole - since we were now free to roam Shanghai, we decided to enjoy a day of freedom before going back into lockdown in Chengdu!
First up, a change of lodging:
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| Much nicer hotel meals than the Quarantine hotel! |
Next, a day out on the town! It was great to see so much activity in public!
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| Yu Gardens |
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| Taking the ferry to Pudong |
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| Our first apartment in Shanghai! |
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| We decided to ascend the second tallest building in the world - the Shanghai Tower (which also happens to have the tallest observation deck in the world!) |
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| Getting in some of my favorite Shanghai foods - Scallion Oil Noodles and Xiaolongao! |
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| Taking the metro! |
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| Nanjing Pedestrian Road |
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| Boba Tea! |
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| Monkey King Legos! |
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| M&Ms |
After a day of freedom, we finally headed home to Chengdu:
We spent the next 7 days (including Christmas) staying at home:
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| Meet Coco, the kids Christmas present! |
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| Legos occupied their time for a few days |
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| Thank goodness for China's robust food delivery service - not being able to go shopping wasn't much of a problem |
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| The kids learned to play Monopoly - always a very useful time-burner |
During these days, we had to report our temperature twice daily. On one occasion, we discovered that our thermometer tended to report higher temperatures, which triggered the local government to deploy an ambulance to take us for testing! We were fortunately able to demonstrate that our digital thermometer read higher than traditional mercury thermometers.
Finally, on Day 7, we were allowed to leave the apartment!
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| Freedom! |
Finally, after a few more COVID tests, I was finally able to go back to the office and we could go back into public again!
Curiously, despite having gone through this incredibly rigorous experience, and despite having so many negative tests, our local massage parlor still did not want to accept our business since we had recently returned from overseas! While I was a bit offended by this, I guess this is also why there is such a stark difference between the COVID situation in China compared with the West!
This concludes the Road Home series!
