very limited people still care

I follow it purely for an indicator of economic outlook and how badly China will implode and impact the global economy.

Any human being on earth who has the privilege of the option to NOT be in China should not even think about trying to enter [mod edit] the country regardless of what "improved" policies they try to sell you.

meh I’m _really_ bored

if it was 3+4 like Taiwan and tourist visa was easy I’d go

Well 7+3 isn't that far off from 3+4. Let's see if they'll further reduce it, and generally stop crazyness of lockdowns. After the autumn election, sounds quite realistic.

I mean, when I look at the rules of what want-to-be tourists have to follow when visiting Japan, that's equally a total turnoff imho. (This being about China, I won't elaborate further, everyone here should know how to use a search engine)

With flight costs skyhigh like at the moment, the current policy imho is only attractive for business travellers where the company will "eat up the time" and/or for urgent travel.

Once airfares are lower AND requirements further reduced, travel will pick up eventually.

policy can change on a dime and you could get stranded indefinitely

I expect 7+3 to be implemented, but just FYI Shanghai has not. Recent entries are still subject to 14-day quarantine.

Just a data point.

Reports on the ground from Zhuhai are that 7+3 is in place for new arrivals from HK, with some existing quarantined travellers being released early.

travelinmanS noted the $8,000 that it costs to come here, and I attempted to disprove him with the Thailand option. Simply put, I was wrong; sure BKK costs less than SFO, but we're only talking about $2,000. In any event, this factor is likely to have a bigger impact than Q policies. If you happen to be the country manager of an MNC or a high-level McKinsey employee, you are probably okay, but my teacher friends have left (this is relatively cheap), and aren't coming back.

if following the kb1992 plan and willing to move at any moment it's probably fine

That being said, kb1992 also has the benefit of being incredibly well-connected (at least it's not lost on me what they seem to mean by friends). Those of us with fewer or more average friends probably will not have such an easy time even if we were "willing to move at any moment".

I am also following along just to keep a feel for what is going on.

I have never lived in China but I have been going there for business 2 or 3 times per year for 35 years until my last trip in October of 2019. I miss it but if I can ever go back I fully expect a very different place.

I love these posts. I care. I’m curious. Big thank you to everyone posting photos and recollections of their experiences :-)

Oh yeah? I left Feb 2020 and went back Nov 2021, and it was exactly the same.
It depends on how long you'll be away though.....at the very least there will be more skyscrapers/apartment buildings! :)

And to everyone who is saying they won't be going back: IF things go back to the way they were [or close-thereto], many who are saying they'll never go back, will go back.

You only care about other photos and experiences but not the policy. You just love watching a train wreck happening in slow motion :-)

Word is that the new policy will start 6/30 in Shanghai.