Many flight plans from the east coast to China don't touch Russian airspace.

I don't pay close attention. What about the west coast?

West coast flights are all fine.

East coast flights will still go, but it will be up there for the longest commercial flights possible (17+ hours). Cathay was doing it out of Toronto/NYC/etc before Nov 2022, depending on winds they either go over Europe zig zagging to avoid Russia and Ukraine airspace or they will go over the pacific and zig zag over Japan to avoid Russia.

I've already told some of you about my harrowing visit to the CVS in Allston, MA (closest location to me that was doing PCR tests...not so common any more) on Tuesday during a nor'easter (e.g. wasted half a day, wasn't allowed to enter the store, mean people). This morning was the cherry on top. The link they sent me with my results doesn't work outside of the US (bear in mind that it is a "test for TRAVEL"). Of course, that wasn't a major hurdle (my devices can reside in a wide array of countries), but when I finally was able to open the link, I learned that it had expired (fewer than 10 hours after they sent it).

Cutting to the chase, when all of this was going down, I could already tell that nobody at EVA Air gives a rat's behind about those tests, and I already knew that Shanghai border control doesn't, so I simply got on the plane and flew here without incident.

One of the videos they made us watch on the plane was interesting though; I learned that there is a law on the books (maybe new?) that makes it a crime to transmit a communicable disease. Similarly, lying on the health declaration is also a crime (duh!).

PVG was painfully slow today, but not because there were a lot of people (in fact, the crowd was rather small) or because people were people getting grilled by officials. The snag that befuddled many was the fingerprint/handprint recorders at the booths. I guess some folks don't have prints that are sufficiently defined for machines' liking (mine were up to snuff fyi). Nobody in my line got through until they eventually succeeded. The officials were quite patient, and maybe even helpful, though.

Those machines have always been a pain in the ... since they were introduced.

Interesting to hear you basically were never checked for the PCR. I can't imagine the requirements stays around much longer if that is the case.

This has been the case for several months now. It's a charade.

What about Beijing?

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No more requirement to take a PCR test when flying back from China into Canada: Government of Canada will remove COVID-19 testing requirement for air travellers arriving from the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong or Macao - Canada.ca

Now, if only the opposite was true as well...

Tryiong to figure out the 48hour PCR test window for travelling to China now. All I can see is that it states 48 hours before departure.
I have a reservation YYZ-YVR-HKG-PVG (connection of 3 hrs in YVR and 1.5 hr in HKG.
Im interpreting it as the PCR test taken has to be a max 48 hr. prior to YYZ departure as opposed to HKG departure. Correct?.
Thoughts would be appreciated.

Difficulty to get a Chinese L VISA
 

I have a leisure trip to China coming up later this year, is it easier to apply for one of the shorter visas (3 or 6 month) and the 10 year requires more paperwork? I thought since it is the same price, why not go for the 10 year visa? I could end up going back, and why go through the hassle and expense again if I don't need to.

PCR test needs to be within 48 hrs of HKG departure to PVG.

Go for 10!