Originally Posted by BeenThere_DoneThat2

Just passed through customs entering China at Shanghai PVG terminal 1. The fingerprint scanners are both before entering the queuing area and at the customs counter. If your fingers are very dry, they will not produce acceptable fingerprints (acceptable to the machine). After I tried it about half a dozen times and kept getting an error, the attendant grabbed my four fingers (of the left hand first) and then tried it twice, holding my fingers firmly since a little jiggle/shake causes them not to scan properly (a message tells you that too). Then she got me a wet wipe in a small package and told me to wipe my fingertips, and that did the trick. At the customs counter, I had to lightly spit on my fingers to get them to make an imprint that was acceptable to the scanner (left wet wipe at first scanner). I wasn't going to lick my fingers because I had touched the previous fingerprint scanner and hadn't washed my fingers since then. The next time, I will have a wet wipe ready for both machines if fingerprints are needed twice again.