Flights from Tokyo to Beijing could not be found this week – the closest available flight is to Kunming, in the southern province of Yunnan, about 1,600 miles (2,600 km) away. There, I will spend 21 days in quarantine, and even then, there is no guarantee that I will be allowed into the Chinese capital.
Since mid-December, China’s average daily case count has increased from double digits to more than 20,000. According to calculations by CNN, at least 27 cities across the country are under full or partial lockdown, affecting about 180 million people.
Some of the strictest measures are in place in the country’s financial powerhouse, Shanghai, where many of its 25 million residents have been locked down inside their neighborhoods for more than a month. , creating discontent that pervades China’s tightly controlled internet.
The number of cases in Beijing remains low compared to Shanghai – 34 new cases were reported in the capital on Friday, bringing the total number of cases to 228 in this outbreak.
But China doesn’t stand a chance as it is trying to prevent the virus from spreading inside its political center.
Travel to China
My journey to China this week was made even more difficult when I arrived in Beijing in February for the Winter Olympics, held under the world’s strictest Covid countermeasures. Thereafter, officials, the media and athletes were segregated from the Chinese public by a vast network of physical barriers, quarantine periods, and frequent Covid tests.
Now, to enter China, I have to provide three negative PCR tests from government approved clinics, taken seven days before departure, then two more within 48 hours of flight .
On the plane, all the flight attendants wore hazmat suits, so did the staff at Kunming airport. Upon landing, all passengers on my flight were immediately instructed to perform another Covid test, an eye and throat swab.
Most of the passengers on my flight appeared to have Chinese passports.
Foreigners can only enter in very limited cases, and it is especially difficult for American journalists to get a Chinese visa due to deteriorating US-China relations. Both countries agreed to relax visa restrictions for other journalists following a meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping last November. I was granted my visa earlier this year after many rounds of interviews.
However, when I gave my US passport, the immigration officer spent a few minutes flipping through the pages, then called out a group of workers with the word “police” written on their hazmat suits. Looks like I was the only one from the plane being pulled aside.
They took me to a private room for questioning, and after a lengthy police interrogation about my career and personal life, I was allowed to continue through immigration and customs.
After clearing immigration, I struck up a conversation with the man standing next to us as we waited to board the bus to the quarantine hotel. He is from Shanghai, but has lived in Japan for the past 30 years. He hasn’t returned to China since the pandemic began, but ultimately decided that the 21-day quarantine period for entry into the country was worth visiting his elderly mother in Shanghai. The city is currently under a week-long Covid lockdown, so his only option is to fly to Yunnan and wait until the situation improves.
China’s National Health Commission on Friday said the “zero Covid-19 policy” had shown initial results in Shanghai, and the situation nationwide was on a downward trend.
21 days in hotel quarantine
Not a single seat was empty on the bus, and our luggage was piled up in the aisles. From the bus window, I watched Kunming, a city of 6.6 million people, pass by at night – bright lights illuminating buildings and highways.
After a two to three hour drive, we arrived at the quarantine site: a hotspring hotel converted into an isolation facility. The workers in hazmat suits escorted me to my room.
The next morning, I found my room overlooking a breathtaking view of Kunming – a region of mountains and trees stretching far into the horizon. Kunming is the capital of Yunnan province, a popular tourist destination, famous for its beautiful scenery and tea-producing regions.
There is a balcony, but I couldn’t step out. But I’m grateful for the visibility, and more importantly, the ability to open windows for fresh air – which in some quarantine facilities is prohibited.
I can’t open the door, except to check my health and get food. I get my temperature checked twice a day and tested for Covid regularly, sometimes twice daily.
Food delivery is not allowed, but breakfast, lunch, and dinner are included in the quarantine fee, which varies depending on the hotel you’re being dropped off at – no choice where to go.
Meals come in plastic containers, placed on a chair outside the door three times a day – usually rice, soup, stir-fried meat and vegetables. I supplemented my meals with snacks I brought from Tokyo, after hearing about side foods at quarantine hotels. Luckily, I don’t mind my food.
In my room, there is no refrigerator, microwave or laundry service. Only one towel was given out for the entire 21 days. I pack my own yoga mat, jump rope, and weights for exercise. Despite the hot weather – around 85 degrees F (30 degrees C) – the hotel would not turn on the air conditioning because of concerns about Covid transmission.
Assuming I continue to test negative, I still might not make it to Beijing. If the capital falls into a complete shutdown, all flights are likely to be cancelled.
Even before this latest outbreak hit, people arriving from China’s deemed “high-risk” areas had to undergo another 14-day round of government quarantine in Beijing. Fortunately, Yunnan is not one of them at the moment. Domestic travelers from lower-risk destinations must spend at least seven days under lockdown in their homes for health monitoring.
Chinese authorities have doubled down on a zero-Covid policy, arguing that it has allowed the country to avoid the explosion in deaths elsewhere in the world and will take its time to vaccinate people. vulnerable groups such as the elderly and children.
“If we lose the measures to control Covid, a large number of people will be infected with many critically ill patients and die, causing the medical system to overwhelm,” Deputy Director of the Commission said. National Health Li Bin said on Friday.
But critics say the policy leans more toward politics than science.
President Xi has put his personal stamp on “zero-Covid,” and officials frequently use the low mortality rate to argue that China’s system is superior to that of the West, where restrictions Restrictions have been relaxed to reflect increased vaccination rates.
But in China, there is no sign of change, and people are growing weary.
In the third year of the pandemic, China still refuses to live with Covid. No circumstances are tolerated, no matter the cost.
