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Old Jul 21, 2021 | 1:30 am
  #861  
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Originally Posted by moondog
Thanks for the data point! Many of us would appreciate your comments on the hotel {e.g. did you have any choice on where to stay (I guess location doesn't matter so much since you're stuck in your room, but maybe you angled for a part of town with nice views)? can you order waimai? how's the internet? is it clean? big room? bathroom quality? do you have any tips on specific Costco items to make the experience more tolerable?}.
There is no choice of hotel. It is at the mercy of the officials at the hotel assignment station. Each bus takes 20 passengers, and you only find out the identity of the hotel when you reached there.

This is my second time going through this process. Last year, I got to stay at a hotel near Yunan food street. There was no food provided, but waimai was allowed.
This time, I got assigned to a hotel near the Hongqiao airport (I can see and hear the planes from my window), and three meals are provided, but waimai is NOT allowed.
Both hotels allow Kuai Di. you can order packaged dry food and packaged milk and bottled water. I was able to order bread from Aldi as a kuai Di package this week.

I went Costco shopping in the US before each quarantine. I got instant coffee, tea, protein bars, canned tuna, snacks, big jar of nuts, and instant oatmeal. I brought six avocados with me this time. I know some people brought a case of cup noodles, but I am not a cup noodle fan. You can order additional snacks as kuai di packages.

The hotel serve three Chinese meals a day. They seem to stick to a three-day menu rotation. I have found food to be tasty, but some are too salty and oily for me, so I rinsed them in hot water first. If you don't like Chinese food, then you are out of luck. Last year when I was in the hotel that served no food, I ate well as I could order waimai and tried different cuisines and healthier options.

I got lucky both time with clean rooms. Wifi can be unstable sometimes with Zoom, Team or WebEx. it is a hit and miss experience throughout the day. Regular surfing and checking emails are fine. Both hotels have no English channel, so need to download movies and shows on your devices before the trip.

Hope this is useful.

Last edited by UA_Flyer; Jul 21, 2021 at 7:59 am
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