While I wasn't flying, this is my experience crossing from Hong Kong to Shenzhen yesterday (I was only going shopping for the day!!):
Filled out all the forms, temp taken with a 'zapper' (this is in the hot & humid immigration area) and told a little high so referred to another area. Temp taken twice - 37.4 & 37.2 - told I would need to go to hospital in an ambulance and that this and the test would take around 3 hours ....
After an hour the ambulance turned up and myself and another foreigner were taken to the Infectious Diseases Dept in the Third Peoples Hospital in Shenzhen (I had asked and been refused permission to be taken to a hospital in Hong Kong).
Once the big iron gate of the dept. bangs shut behind us, we're directed to seperate rooms with ensuite bathroom (squat toilets and not too clean ...), ac, fan & cable tv (only one channel in english), given a meal (best hospital food I've had!)
Nurse takes blood samples and temp - it's now an even 37C, doc comes along after about an hour to take mouth & nasal swabs - it's now about 4 hours since I entered China. Asked doc how long results would take and told 6-8 hours, eek!! If 6 hours that would just about get me to the border before it closes at midnight.
Temp taken again - 37C
As it happened told about 1:30am that I was all clear.
Requested to leave at 5:30am and out of the building by 6 - no idea where I was and when I asked the nurse she said 'bye,bye' - fair enough as I hadn't been the best of patients (angry beyond reason when told 6-8 hours - in some, less lenient, countries I would have been arrested) ....
Found taxis nearby and got myself to the border just before it opened at 06:30
Other than the boredom I was treated well at the hospital, big meal at around 5 with bottled water , apple at 9, toiletries provided.
Enjoy China!
I wonder if they have the same procedure if you go to the "wrong" immigration line? I have consistently gone to the one for HK residents at Lo Wu because I haven't figured out the (to me) tortured English on the signs. In other words, do they just enforce this on non-Chinese?
Not only is this silly, it is downright troubling. You are going from China to China. There is little doubt that Hong Kong is BETTER than Shenzhen as regards health and sanitation.
While it is a concern. I just returned from China and did not get quarantined. I read somewhere it was less than a fraction of 1% of travelers that do get stuck in the 7-day hold.
And if you do, as much as you hate to admit it, it is for good reason.
Still my point is, you have a greater chance of missing your flight, connection, losing your baggage, etc. All stuff you would buy travel insurance for. So why is this anymore of a concern?
Scary thought to get quarantined but the odds are clearly in your favor not to
I read somewhere it was less than a fraction of 1% of travelers that do get stuck in the 7-day hold.
Thanks for the info. This makes me a lot less concerned. All of these stories about people being quarantined make it sound so common. I'm also flying in from Moscow so hopefully there will be a smaller chance of anyone having swine flu coming from there..
While it is a concern. I just returned from China and did not get quarantined. I read somewhere it was less than a fraction of 1% of travelers that do get stuck in the 7-day hold.
And if you do, as much as you hate to admit it, it is for good reason....
It certainly is NOT for good reason. Swine flu is no more dangerous than any other kind of flu. Furthermore, in just a few weeks, there will be a vaccine for it.
Any "fraction of 1%" that is at all significant means this meaningless detention is happening daily.
It certainly is NOT for good reason. Swine flu is no more dangerous than any other kind of flu. Furthermore, in just a few weeks, there will be a vaccine for it.
Any "fraction of 1%" that is at all significant means this meaningless detention is happening daily.
China's population in relation to the quality of health care available to it's citizens is cause for concern for any flu or disease that breaks out...not just H1N1. But really, after coming back from Beijing, it is really no different with this whole scare going on
It certainly is NOT for good reason. Swine flu is no more dangerous than any other kind of flu. Furthermore, in just a few weeks, there will be a vaccine for it.
Any "fraction of 1%" that is at all significant means this meaningless detention is happening daily.
I have lived through the chinese quarantine experience and I can tell you it is not pleasant. I was pulled off as an operating airline crew member arriving in Beijing. I had a temp of 37.4 on the zapper then eventually 38 on a mercury thermometer. Taken to a containment facility at a hospital for isolation. No contact with the outside world (phone in room doesn't allow intl calls). Blood on the bedsheets. Dirty toilets. I was told that (including my Embassy) if the H1N1 test came back negative I'd be released, but they still decided to hold me an extra day after it was negative.
If anyone is interested in reading my story, PM me and I'll send you a link.
I'm thinking of starting up a website for travellers in regards to the quarantine situation in China. A lot of it is very random in nature and meaningless.
Just this week one colleague told me they were getting ready to leave from China and they were told by the Chinese that they found a passenger on their previous flight (a day before) into China with H1N1. The Chinese wanted the entire aircraft including crew quarantined, but the station manager negotiated it down to just one crew member. So basically they had to try to pick one crew to be the sacrafice. How can arbitrarily selecting one person to satisfy quarantine officials make any sense in preventing the spread of disease? Either all of them need to be quarantined, or none of them!
I also know of another case where another colleague going into China had a passenger on the flight that had a high temp reading. The chinese couldn't figure out who on the crew to quarantine (they didn't know which FAs had close contact with the passenger) so they randomly selected a few. They were told they'd be held for a few hours, but instead were taken to a hotel and told they'd be in for 24 hrs. It was eventually negotiated down to a 11 hours. How does this make any sense?
-Rickster
Last edited by rickster2009; Jul 1, 09 at 1:16 pm.
Welcome to FT, Rickster!. This nonsense is, of course, what the Chinese government does to its own people all the time. The problem is, I guess, that they are now trying to apply it to foreigners visiting China. Publicity is our friend here so I encourage you to keep telling your story to anyone who will listen. Another thing to consider is taking a bottle of aspirin on every flight to China, and hand out two of them to everyone 2 hours before arrival.
