why?
In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, China, like most countries, closed its borders, leaving many residents stranded outside of the country for months, unable to return home. Because non-citizen residents need a visa to stay in China, many who lost their job consequently lost their home as well. I was fortunate to have the option to work online during those nine months, and my employer graciously helped me get back to China when borders opened again. In mid-October, I set out to get home to Beijing. My 14-day quarantine, believe it or not, was the easiest part of all the things I had to do to get back to my life in Beijing.
My final destination was Beijing, but I could only find flights to Shanghai so thatâs where I spent my quarantine. China requires travellers to quarantine in another city before they are allowed into the capital.
TOTAL COST : $860 USD (HOTEL) + $18 USD (FINAL COVID TEST).
The process
Before you get on the plane you need to make sure you have a valid visa.
For work visas (Z) which usually cost around $200 USD, you will have a 3-month temporary visa that you can turn into a one-year visa once youâre in the country. You wonât have your one-year visa right away. Youâll have to renew it each year. Iâm not sure how the process works for other types of visas, but if you go to the Chinese visa center closest to you, they will tell you. Usually there are a lot of documents to gather, but once you have everything it is a pretty smooth process.
When you travel:
Remember to dress comfortably & donât pack too much because youâll have to carry all of your belongings and wait in long lines. It took approximately 6.5 hours to get to my hotel room from the moment I landed in Shanghai.
The hotel room: Here are the things I found in my hotel room when I arrived:
⢠24 water bottles of 50cl each.
⢠14 toothbrushes.
⢠14 pairs of slippers.
⢠14 packs of green and black tea.
⢠14 cups.
⢠soap, shower gel and shampoo.
⢠tissues (14? forgive my lack of precision).
⢠toilet paper (lots, but I heard some people had only 2 rolls).
⢠instructions (in Chinese).
⢠24 water bottles of 50cl each.
⢠14 toothbrushes.
⢠14 pairs of slippers.
⢠14 packs of green and black tea.
⢠14 cups.
⢠soap, shower gel and shampoo.
⢠tissues (14? forgive my lack of precision).
⢠toilet paper (lots, but I heard some people had only 2 rolls).
⢠instructions (in Chinese).
When you arrive at your final destination (at the airport):
You will have to go through border control and at the end you will have a fun covid test to take (your nose, several times, & your throat). Brace yourself, my child, is all I will say. You will be asked to scan a QR code (thatâs where your sim card is handy, but I told the man I didnât have the internet so he kindly shared his hotspot with me). You get on a bus and they take you to your designated hotel (the name of which will remain a mystery until you arrive). My trip was 2h15 long. When you get to your hotel, be sure to take the name of the hotel and the address (in case you want to order something from an app like Taobao groceries, for example). I paid what I think was a deposit ($860 USD) using Wechat, and was asked to scan 2 QR codes. One to communicate with the hotel, and the other to talk to the nurse. I was escorted to my room and asked to close the door for good (first tragic moment).
WHAT TO PACK
âĄÂ patience
âĄÂ copies of all your documents (during quarantine they will keep your passport).
âĄÂ your passport (+ old passport if you recently changed it) with your new visa on it
âĄÂ your boarding pass
âĄÂ your covid results (for me the results had to be edited 72 hours before the last flight I took before China. I left from Paris but I had a layover in Frankfurt, and my covid results had to still be valid for that.
(+ depending on your nationality, the confirmation of authenticity from the Chinese embassy in your country, printed if possible – I got yelled at because I hadnât printed it). By the way, the embassy sent it to me on a Saturday at 8pm, so if youâre flying on a Monday like me, you can still get it over the weekend.
âĄÂ Chinese people had to download a mini program about their health, but they could do that later at the airport.Â
âĄÂ a working SIM card if possible. It can be found at the airport in China.
âĄÂ cash in RMBs if possible. You can also get that at the airport.
âĄÂ a thermometer to measure your temperature twice daily (I had my own, but if I didnât I imagine that they would have given me one).
âĄÂ  eye drops & blue screen glasses if you are working online.Â
âĄÂ vitamin D
âĄÂ melatonin to beat jet lag and insomnia.Â
âĄÂ thermal water to cool down if you donât have AC
âĄÂ  maxi pads (if thereâs a chance youâll need them)
âĄÂ a swiss army knife (peeling fruit, opening packagesâŚ)
âĄÂ a fork and a spoon if you donât feel comfortable using chopsticks everyday
âĄÂ a pen, pencil, notebook to draw or write – if you want a break from screens.
âĄÂ magazines, books, crosswords, fun activities that will bring you happiness.Â
âĄÂ some tea (I picked the Yogi Tea brand because it has a new message to read everyday)
âĄÂ snacks (candies, chocolate, you name it). Those should have been my top priority!
âĄÂ Ten Percent or another meditation app. Ten Percent is free for educators and some other professions right now.
âĄÂ Note: In Shanghai it is illegal to have alcohol delivered to your quarantine room.
my "staycation"
Day 1:
I got to the hotel at around 4:30pm. It was nice to be back and realize that I had wifi and could talk to my friends. I was a little mad at myself because I forgot to ask for a receipt (fapiao) when I paid, so I had to talk to both HR and the hotel to fix that. Moreover, I almost lost my luggage because when I tried to take it I couldn’t, and then I forgot about it until later when I decided to unpack and realized that my checked baggage was missing. Thankfully, this problem was resolved quickly. Later someone knocked on my door to signal that my food had arrived. They gave me two meals. When I opened the door an alarm rang, surprising me and offering me my second moment of realization that I was not going anywhere for 2 full weeks (second tragic moment). That said, guys, my hotel room was really nice! I had huge windows on one side with the sun peaking through. I had a view of the grass and a lagoon on the right side.
Day 2: I woke up early to work online. When I finished work I looked at what I had to entertain myself on that last day before Golden Week. I was delighted to see that I received a piece of fruit with every meal. Actually, nothing could make me happier. I saw that in the building across the courtyard from mine a man was also in isolation. Itâs strange the comfort it brings to know youâre not totally alone in this. I canât hear or see anyone else (except all the animals that regularly come see me), so the idea of having someone go through the same thing, even though we couldnât talk, was a pleasant surprise. Honestly, he was probably Chinese so even if we had the luxury to meet we couldnât have had a conversation anyway. [ covid test could be any day now ]
Day 3: My first day of Golden week, I woke up to the sound of birds and received a moon cake to celebrate. It was a sunny day and I enjoyed going to the window to get some vitamin D. I also realized, through a bit of cheeky investigative work, that I could open the window a little bit, which made me pretty happy too. Already slightly tired of my daily meals, I tried to order snacks on various apps: Sherpaâs, Taobao, JSS, the grocery store on Wechat⌠But nothing worked because I had to verify my phone number, which I couldnât do because my phone plan was canceled by my phone provider. I think I ran out of money on my plan so they canceled it, which means I couldnât get any text or calls. I donât know how to check how much is left on my phone before I top it up. I guess I didnât leave enough to cover the 9 months I spent abroad. I will have to deal with that later when I get back to Beijing. I hope I don’t have to get a new phone number because that would imply that I need to update all the apps that use my phone number (bank, delivery apps, Didi (the Chinese Uber)…). Iâll keep you posted.
Edit: I had a bit of an argument with the phone provider and they did NOT change my phone number. Success.
[ phew, no covid test today, maybe tomorrow… ]
Day 4: I woke up in a sweat to the sound of visitors at my door, fearing that it might be the dreaded covid test. Thankfully, this day hadnât come yet. The past two days were a bit overcast. I could tell it affected my mood. I was a bit tired of eating similar things every day so I asked my colleague to order some things for me from the Taobao Grocery store. I transferred the money to her on Wechat (thankfully the Wechat Pay section of my Wechat still worked). What a relief! I couldnât wait to get some really unhealthy snacks to go with my daily fruit intake.Â[ still no test… ]
Day 5: I woke up feeling good! 5 min after opening my eyes, I was still in bed when I received a call from HR saying that my package (mostly candies and chocolate) had arrived at the hotel. The feeling of embarrassment was quickly replaced by the intense joy of the visualisation of my package at my front door.[ night sweats, but still no covid test ]
Day 6: Today I woke up in a good mood because I had all my candy. I tried the green tea chocolate that was included in my Dove chocolate pack. BTW Iâm so glad I brought a swiss army knife! Helped me with my package and to peel my apples sometimes. My hotel contact told me she was leaving tomorrow so I wasnât sure who I would be talking to after that, so I ordered 10 more bottles of water ($1 USD each). When I asked who I would talk to from now on, part of her reply was âTomorrow is tomorrowâ which I found pretty funny. This quarantine has given me the opportunity to work on projects that lately have been neglected. The delivery man tried to give me my 10 bottles of water through the crack in my window but it didnât work so he had to go around and give it to me via the main door. They forgot to deliver my dinner so it was dark when I got it, and the woman insisted that she give me the whole thing through the crack in the window. Obviously my soup spilled, but thatâs fine haha. Also I think they felt bad because they gave me 2 pieces of fruit for the first time. They know how to please me. For dinner though I had something that looked & smelled like pineapple jello, donât ask me how it tasted.Â[ another day without a test ]
Day 7: Monday Pretty sure a guy took a photo of me through the window. How about some privacy?[ when is this test going to happen?? ] Day 8: Tuesday I was so productive today! Was a goood day! I got something that I hope was soju. I learned that a colleague of mine was visited twice daily for temperature and covid tests. Iâm so glad that my days werenât interrupted, that would suck. Also I have a kitten now ! I feel like Snow White đ[ surely the test is coming soon⌠]
Day 9: I just got my breakfast. I canât stand the smell of plastic when I open the bag anymore. I saw a man spray my lunch with disinfectant using something that looked like a hoover. It’s not helping my food aversion haha. I also finished my candies. nooo. I tried to make a conscious effort to go to my window after work to get the last few rays of sun and look at the sunset everyday. I am more and more picky with what I eat now. There are things I just wonât even try anymore.Â[ have they forgotten my test? ]
Day 10: My life is no uneventful.[ paranoia regarding my covid test is increasing ]
Day 11: I just realized how great I am at using chopsticks now. I definitely perfected my skills![ maybe they really did forget about the test! ]
Day 12: I broke my Mejuri necklace, what a tragedy! So most of the day was me talking to the customer service to get it fixed / replaced. They were super nice though, that made me feel better. I read Time magazine a little. I guess there is a difference between being influential and doing good in the world. So many wasted pages. But it was interesting anyhow. I love that it made me feel slightly more connected to the outside world.[ the calm before the storm… ]
Day 13: Today I was chilling, normal itâs Sunday. When all of a sudden, BOOM! A knock on my door. Yes, it was finally happening: covid-test time! So I went to my door step âcause you know, nobody can come in. My neighbors were clearly standing there looking at me. I waved at them, hoping they would leave me alone, âcause you know, PRIVACY. But oh well. They tickled my throat and cleaned my nose up to my brains. Then I had a minor headache for the next hour. Fun times. My Yogi Tea said : Lift people up to their potential and higher-self. Thatâs definitely what I try to do with my students & hopefully my friends and family benefit from me being around haha.[ silent tears of desperation ]
Day 14: Surprisingly, nothing happened that day.[ healing ]
Day 15: Iâm leaving at 1pm! And whatâs amazing is that my hotel has a shuttle to take me to the airport, so I don’t have to pay for a cab! All this time, I got used to living in my own comfort bubble and I have to admit that I was a bit apprehensive to get back to the real world đ[ revival ]
Day 2: I woke up early to work online. When I finished work I looked at what I had to entertain myself on that last day before Golden Week. I was delighted to see that I received a piece of fruit with every meal. Actually, nothing could make me happier. I saw that in the building across the courtyard from mine a man was also in isolation. Itâs strange the comfort it brings to know youâre not totally alone in this. I canât hear or see anyone else (except all the animals that regularly come see me), so the idea of having someone go through the same thing, even though we couldnât talk, was a pleasant surprise. Honestly, he was probably Chinese so even if we had the luxury to meet we couldnât have had a conversation anyway.
Day 3: My first day of Golden week, I woke up to the sound of birds and received a moon cake to celebrate. It was a sunny day and I enjoyed going to the window to get some vitamin D. I also realized, through a bit of cheeky investigative work, that I could open the window a little bit, which made me pretty happy too. Already slightly tired of my daily meals, I tried to order snacks on various apps: Sherpaâs, Taobao, JSS, the grocery store on Wechat⌠But nothing worked because I had to verify my phone number, which I couldnât do because my phone plan was canceled by my phone provider. I think I ran out of money on my plan so they canceled it, which means I couldnât get any text or calls. I donât know how to check how much is left on my phone before I top it up. I guess I didnât leave enough to cover the 9 months I spent abroad. I will have to deal with that later when I get back to Beijing. I hope I don’t have to get a new phone number because that would imply that I need to update all the apps that use my phone number (bank, delivery apps, Didi (the Chinese Uber)…). Iâll keep you posted.
Edit: I had a bit of an argument with the phone provider and they did NOT change my phone number. Success.
Day 4: I woke up in a sweat to the sound of visitors at my door, fearing that it might be the dreaded covid test. Thankfully, this day hadnât come yet. The past two days were a bit overcast. I could tell it affected my mood. I was a bit tired of eating similar things every day so I asked my colleague to order some things for me from the Taobao Grocery store. I transferred the money to her on Wechat (thankfully the Wechat Pay section of my Wechat still worked). What a relief! I couldnât wait to get some really unhealthy snacks to go with my daily fruit intake.Â
Day 5: I woke up feeling good! 5 min after opening my eyes, I was still in bed when I received a call from HR saying that my package (mostly candies and chocolate) had arrived at the hotel. The feeling of embarrassment was quickly replaced by the intense joy of the visualisation of my package at my front door.
Day 6: Today I woke up in a good mood because I had all my candy. I tried the green tea chocolate that was included in my Dove chocolate pack. BTW Iâm so glad I brought a swiss army knife! Helped me with my package and to peel my apples sometimes. My hotel contact told me she was leaving tomorrow so I wasnât sure who I would be talking to after that, so I ordered 10 more bottles of water ($1 USD each). When I asked who I would talk to from now on, part of her reply was âTomorrow is tomorrowâ which I found pretty funny. This quarantine has given me the opportunity to work on projects that lately have been neglected. The delivery man tried to give me my 10 bottles of water through the crack in my window but it didnât work so he had to go around and give it to me via the main door. They forgot to deliver my dinner so it was dark when I got it, and the woman insisted that she give me the whole thing through the crack in the window. Obviously my soup spilled, but thatâs fine haha. Also I think they felt bad because they gave me 2 pieces of fruit for the first time. They know how to please me. For dinner though I had something that looked & smelled like pineapple jello, donât ask me how it tasted.Â
Day 7: Monday Pretty sure a guy took a photo of me through the window. How about some privacy?[ when is this test going to happen?? ]Â Day 8: Tuesday I was so productive today! Was a goood day! I got something that I hope was soju. I learned that a colleague of mine was visited twice daily for temperature and covid tests. Iâm so glad that my days werenât interrupted, that would suck. Also I have a kitten now ! I feel like Snow White đ
Day 9: I just got my breakfast. I canât stand the smell of plastic when I open the bag anymore. I saw a man spray my lunch with disinfectant using something that looked like a hoover. It’s not helping my food aversion haha. I also finished my candies. nooo. I tried to make a conscious effort to go to my window after work to get the last few rays of sun and look at the sunset everyday. I am more and more picky with what I eat now. There are things I just wonât even try anymore.Â
Day 10: My life is no uneventful.
Day 11: I just realized how great I am at using chopsticks now. I definitely perfected my skills!
Day 12: I broke my Mejuri necklace, what a tragedy! So most of the day was me talking to the customer service to get it fixed / replaced. They were super nice though, that made me feel better. I read Time magazine a little. I guess there is a difference between being influential and doing good in the world. So many wasted pages. But it was interesting anyhow. I love that it made me feel slightly more connected to the outside world.
Day 13: Today I was chilling, normal itâs Sunday. When all of a sudden, BOOM! A knock on my door. Yes, it was finally happening: covid-test time! So I went to my door step âcause you know, nobody can come in. My neighbors were clearly standing there looking at me. I waved at them, hoping they would leave me alone, âcause you know, PRIVACY. But oh well. They tickled my throat and cleaned my nose up to my brains. Then I had a minor headache for the next hour. Fun times. My Yogi Tea said : Lift people up to their potential and higher-self. Thatâs definitely what I try to do with my students & hopefully my friends and family benefit from me being around haha.
Day 14: Surprisingly, nothing happened that day.
Day 15: Iâm leaving at 1pm! And whatâs amazing is that my hotel has a shuttle to take me to the airport, so I don’t have to pay for a cab! All this time, I got used to living in my own comfort bubble and I have to admit that I was a bit apprehensive to get back to the real world đ
BUT WHAT ABOUT FOOD?
At my hotel, three times a day I found a tray in front of my door:
Breakfast (8:30am)
⢠One bun filled with meat and veggies most of the time, but also red bean paste.
⢠One yogurt. Most of the time it was just plain (they are sweet though). Once I had one that was fruit-flavored :jujube. Itâs a sort of date but it looks like a tiny red apple).
⢠One pack of something that kind of looked like kimchi. It always came with the yogurt, which I found extremely curious.
⢠one piece of cake. I did not eat that ever, but I think one tasted a little bit like prune, and another just sugar.
Lunch (12pm)
⢠One soup. It looked like a broth with either cooked eggs and tomatoes, or seaweed, or tiny white shrimps.
⢠one tray with different things: rice (always), different veggies and meat. Sometimes I had shrimp, and often it came with an egg.Â
⢠one fruit (my saving grace)O
Dinner (5pm):
No need to write it again, it was exactly the same as for lunch. But they varied slightly meal-to-meal and day-to-day. There was a rotation (thank god).
reflections about my experience
My highlights:
âĄThe puppy that came to visit me and laid down in the grass in front of my window everyday (and a cat sometimes too).
âĄWaking up to the sound of birds.
âĄThe sun through the high-ceiling windows.
âĄThe view of a lake.When they gave me a moon cake to celebrate Golden Week
âĄWhen I got a package full of stuff I should have brought with me in the first place.
âĄtaking the time to put my ideas in order and reading silly celebrity magazines.
What I wish I knew before:
âĄTake a few snacks that you really like, because even if you like everything they have to offer, it gets old and you will be happy you have a few of your favorite things.
âĄget a temporary SIM card at the airport if yours isnât working. It makes things waaaay easier.
âĄget some RMBs before you leave the airport. It will help you get a cab back to the airport after your quarantine.
What I learned from this experience:
âĄI am not as easy-going as I thought in terms of what I accept to eat. I learned that the hard way.
âĄWithout a hairdryer, my hair is frizzier than I thought !
âĄYou donât need a yoga mat to workout, but it really facilitates your workout. Using the floor or the bed is impractical.
âĄI love having two beds. Totally not a luxury. One is for sleeping, the other one for chilling by the window. Note that this conforms nicely with Feng Shui principle that your workspace should be separate from where you sleep.
âĄA reminder that water is so precious. I had to really be careful about my water consumption. I realized how much I drink, and how careful we need to be with it.
After this exhausting process of gathering all the documents to get my visa and get back to China, I was actually glad to have this time to take a break from reality and live in my own bubble for a while. đ¤
âĄThe puppy that came to visit me and laid down in the grass in front of my window everyday (and a cat sometimes too).
âĄWaking up to the sound of birds.
âĄThe sun through the high-ceiling windows.
âĄThe view of a lake.When they gave me a moon cake to celebrate Golden Week
âĄWhen I got a package full of stuff I should have brought with me in the first place.
âĄtaking the time to put my ideas in order and reading silly celebrity magazines.
What I wish I knew before:
âĄTake a few snacks that you really like, because even if you like everything they have to offer, it gets old and you will be happy you have a few of your favorite things.
âĄget a temporary SIM card at the airport if yours isnât working. It makes things waaaay easier.
âĄget some RMBs before you leave the airport. It will help you get a cab back to the airport after your quarantine.
What I learned from this experience:
âĄI am not as easy-going as I thought in terms of what I accept to eat. I learned that the hard way.
âĄWithout a hairdryer, my hair is frizzier than I thought !
âĄYou donât need a yoga mat to workout, but it really facilitates your workout. Using the floor or the bed is impractical.
âĄI love having two beds. Totally not a luxury. One is for sleeping, the other one for chilling by the window. Note that this conforms nicely with Feng Shui principle that your workspace should be separate from where you sleep.
âĄA reminder that water is so precious. I had to really be careful about my water consumption. I realized how much I drink, and how careful we need to be with it.
After this exhausting process of gathering all the documents to get my visa and get back to China, I was actually glad to have this time to take a break from reality and live in my own bubble for a while. đ¤
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