Final update at Shanghai Q hotel.

I am scheduled to be released at 5:30pm (arrival time of UA 857 at PVG) on May 23, after 14 days of Q.

Called 22 Marriott Bonvoy hotels in Shanghai that allow new bookings at Marriott app. To my surprise, NONE is accepting new guests. Why on the earth Marriott.com allows me to book? Marriott Ambassador service contacted the hotels on my behalf, to no avail. I actually booked JW Marriott Tomorrow Square, and they actually upgraded me to an executive suite. It seems comical that I won't be allowed to check in.

I figure that other hotels like Hilton etc. would do the same. I can continue to stay at Q hotel, but that does not seem appealing. So I decided to get out of Shanghai.

Unfortunately, there is nearly zero flight out of Shanghai, at least until May 28. Even that is not guaranteed. I don't want to arrive at the airport and find my flight canceled. Then I'll have to sleep on the terminal floor. So travel by air is off the table.

Almost all cities require additional 14 days Q for people from Shanghai, with an exception: Hangzhou. The local government announced on May 20 that folks from Shanghai only need to be quarantined for 7 days plus self monitoring for another 7 and number of PCR tests. So after 7 days in Hangzhou, I will be a free man. Yay!

Buying train tickets is no easy job since there are only a few trains still running. I used 12306 app, worked hard to check tickets once every 10 min. Finally I managed to grab a business class ticket to Hangzhou. There is no train after 5:30pm so I'll stay at Q hotel for an extra day, and take the train to Hangzhou on May 24.

There is very limited public transportation, and people walked 10-20 miles to the train station. My friend agrees to send a private car with Special COVID Permit to pick me up and drop me off at Hongqiao Railway Station.












Some pictures of food at Q hotel. This is expected. Many people in Shanghai fare worse than me. So I am not complaining.

I can also order some extra food too.

Look forward to my journey to Hangzhou, and final 7 days of Q before freedom. Will update that later.