Possibility of American citizens entering China

[Kenny同志]

Hi everyone,

 

The pandemic is still raging. But my girlfriend, who is American, wants to visit me within the next few months. Does anyone know about the current situation as to whether it is possible for American citizens to enter China? If it is, what are the requirements? Thanks. 

[Moshen]

Because my husband (born in China but a US citizen now) needs to go to China to settle a legal matter, I looked into this a month ago, and found out a few things:

 

1)Our visa agent told me that having a valid visa won't necessarily get one in.  (We both have 10-year visas.)  In other words, don't assume that a valid visa means anything because other factors apply.

 

2)At that time, any American who was allowed in would have to quarantine alone in an approved quarantine hotel at their expense.  If there were a couple, they would have to quarantine in separate rooms.  For me, that was a deal breaker.

 

3)At that time, the Chinese government said that if you had received a Chinese-made vaccination, you could enter without quarantine.  But the Chinese vaccines are not available in the US.

 

You can find the most current info on this from the US State Department here:

https://china.usembassy-china.org.cn/covid-19-information/

[mungouk]

[ Reply overlapped with @Moshen ]

 

Go to  https://www.iatatravelcentre.com/world.php and click on China to get the latest IATA rules.

 

Presumably the CDC website also has information for US travellers?

 

1 minute ago, Moshen said:

At that time, the Chinese government said that if you had received a Chinese-made vaccination, you could enter without quarantine. 

 

Recent reports suggest that this restriction is about to be loosened, i.e. doesn't only have to be a China-made vaccine. 

 

[mungouk]

6 minutes ago, Moshen said:

If there were a couple, they would have to quarantine in separate rooms.  For me, that was a deal breaker.

 

Hmmm... a British colleague of mine had a large hotel room where he quarantined with his wife and 2-year old daughter when he arrived in September 2020.  This was Shanghai, so maybe the approach varies across provinces etc. Or maybe it was having a toddler with them that did it.

[Kenny同志]

Thanks for the information, Moshen and Mungouk. Hmm, it seems things remain practically the same as a few months ago. I will keep an eye on any new updates on these sites you recommended. Thanks  again. J

[mungouk]

Expat-focused WeChat accounts such as TheBeijinger, Expat Focus, That's Beijing and That's Shanghai tend to have regular updates on the situation regarding leaving and returning to China, vaccines, quarantine etc.

 

Good luck!

 

 

[Kenny同志]

Quote

 

Expat-focused WeChat accounts such as TheBeijinger, Expat Focus, That's Beijing and That's Shanghai tend to have regular updates on the situation regarding leaving and returning to China, vaccines, quarantine etc.

 

Good luck!

 

 

That's great to know! Thanks again, Mungouk. ?

 

[alantin]

3 hours ago, mungouk said:

Hmmm... a British colleague of mine had a large hotel room where he quarantined with his wife and 2-year old daughter when he arrived in September 2020.  This was Shanghai, so maybe the approach varies across provinces etc. Or maybe it was having a toddler with them that did it.

In December 2020 we had three business travelers fly to Shanghai and they had to quarantine in separate tiny rooms in a quarantine hotel for two weeks after arrival with their temperatures measured three times a day.

[mungouk]

@alantin I also quarantined for 14 days in a Shanghai hotel, in October 2020, reporting temperature on a WeChat group, not allowed outside of the room at all, etc.  You also need to have a negative PCR test about 3 days before you're released. Some of my colleagues were also given antibody tests.

[Kenny同志]

Thanks for the feedback, Alan and Mungouk. I am sorry I didn’t get back to you because I didn’t come back to this thread until today.

 

Did any of you come to China recently? What were your experiences?  On the website of the Chinese embassy, there haven’t been any new updates on the requirements for those who are travelling to China. My major concern is if my girlfriend enters China within the next few months, will she have to be put in quarantine? Thanks.

[abcdefg]

14 hours ago, Kenny同志 said:

My major concern is if my girlfriend enters China within the next few months, will she have to be put in quarantine?

 

I'm still in the US, Kenny, so this information is not first hand. But a look at the travel regulations just now suggests that quarantine is still possible. The wording has changed slightly, suggesting that it might not be required 100% of the time. 

 

It also talks about the sort of testing which is required in order to board the flight from US to China. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's the source: https://www.iatatravelcentre.com/world.php. That is a good place to quickly see the latest regulations.   

 

The quarantine regulations are somewhat spotty. They can change from day to day and from place to place in response to reported cases. Just three days ago, a front page article ran in the NY Times about a tightening of restrictions in parts of Guangzhou.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/09/world/asia/china-covid-lockdown.html?searchResultPosition=1 

 

Also, I follow a large travel forum, Tripadvisor, and have not seen any first-hand reports of visitors to China from the US being able to avoid quarantine. 

 

[Flickserve]

13 hours ago, Kenny同志 said:

if my girlfriend enters China within the next few months, will she have to be put in quarantine?

 

Yes. 

[Kenny同志]

@abcdefg

Thanks for the information, abcdefg. It’s very useful.

 

It seems we may need to be prepared for the quarantine.

 

On a side note, I went to Kunming last August and spent about two weeks there. I thought about dropping you a line but somehow I didn’t… It was a good experience anyway. I visited the Stone Forest （石林）, the underground karst maze in Jiuxiang (九乡溶洞). the Multi-ethnic Village (民族村), and some other less known sites. Also enjoyed some local delicacies, such as wild mushrooms, 草芽 ( not quite sure about its name), and some 傣-style dishes.    

 

@Flickserve
Thanks for the information, Flickserve. Is this your personal experience or that of someone else you know of?

[abcdefg]

Glad you had a good time in Kunming, @Kenny. I would have loved to show you around, but unfortunately I've been in the US since the start of last year. Been unable to return to Kunming because of the Covid travel restrictions. July and August are peak times for wild mushrooms in Yunnan, so your timing was perfect! 

[Kenny同志]

Haha, I see. As a matter of fact, I was visiting my cousin, who lives there. Next time I go there, I will definitely drop you a line and see if we can meet. ?

[Flickserve]

@kenny

 

China/HK/Macau quarantine rules are strict. 
 

Not enough people are vaccinated and even if they were, China will not let people in without quarantine (unless you have some sort of special exemption).

 

At the moment, HK is 14 day quarantine plus another 7 days self monitoring for those who are vaccinated. Even a country that handles Covid really badly such as U.K. (just a flu) still has quarantine for most countries. I can’t imagine mainland China having less strict quarantine rules compared to U.K.!

 

Any easing of quarantine rules in China will be a bonus but don’t assume it will happen. The recent Taiwan outbreak caused by reducing quarantine time shows what happens if you become too overconfident and complacent/ 

[Kenny同志]

Thanks again for the information Flickserve.

 

That makes sense. I didn't expect the government to loosen their rules but I thought it might be useful to see what people have to go through if they are travelling to the Mainland. 

 

Anyway, very useful information. Thanks. ?

[889]

Hong Kong has just announced that vaccinated non-residents from the US and most other countries will again be able to enter the territory, perhaps as early as next month. There's a seven-day hotel quarantine and a slew of testing requirements.

 

If there's a re-opening of the HK-Mainland border later this year, this might provide a backdoor for entering the Mainland. We'll just have to wait and see.

 

https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202106/21/P2021062100692.htm

[brigitte]

@889

 

However there is no mention about visa. So I suppose the whole article is only about change in compulsory quarantine, but still same requirement for visa application, that is work, diplomacy, and humanitarian aid only making it a backdoor difficult to reach.

[Takeshi]

14 minutes ago, brigitte said:

However there is no mention about visa. So I suppose the whole article is only about change in compulsory quarantine, but still same requirement for visa application, that is work, diplomacy, and humanitarian aid only making it a backdoor difficult to reach.

 

No, it says non-residents are allowed in, which I presume means it is applicable to nationals of countries which could enter HK visa-free prior to covid, and tourism is a valid reason to visit.