Good for you.

How did you get to PVG? Car service? How much did they charge?

And did you have to get permission from the neighborhood committee?

We want to go back in July too -- Shanghai American School starts in early August -- but I don't think it's realistic at this point. It seems more and more likely that we'll be spending the next schoolyear here in California.

Did you get upgraded?

858 fares are fairly cheap. Even J fare is only $5,000 these days. Upgrade is easy too.

But 857 is ridiculously expensive.

Update on my flight UA 857 on May 8.

Per suggestion from another GS, I called GS desk this morning and asked not to cancel my reservation. I explained the situation of 40% capacity of UA 857 mandated by the Chinese government. I told the agent that I planned this trip 6 months ago and I have already arrived in SFO to comply with requirements by PRC Consulate in SF about 7 day self isolation and 3 COVID tests. I told the agent that UA will soon, maybe today, cancel a lot of peoples tickets booked on the 5/8 flight to PVG. I asked the agent to talk to the China desk or send a message to protect me. The agent put me on hold, talked to her supervisor and told me that I am on the flight. She said that my ticket won't be canceled unless China throws another hardball at United which is out of United's hands.

Few hours later, about 100 people received notifications from United that their reservations on 5/8 UA 857 are canceled.

I would be shocked if they cancel my ticket, but I wasn't going to take any chances.

About 20 J seats are open, and only 6 people are on upgrade list. Everyone should eventually clear!

IF, IF they get the blue code from the PRC Consulate in SFO.... That is not a given.

lol you actually want to take UA 857 in a week? I thought this was a holiday?!

Why would you go to China now? I just escaped Shanghai and can't fathom a reason to go there outside of a parent/close relative being extremely sick there.

May be kb1992 is semi-retired or worked for himself, and will be in China for the long haul just like the last time he was there. IIRC, he is originally from China and has local ties and family there.

Like others, I have left and not looking back, and hope won't have to go back until Covid restriction is over in China. Having done four quarantines in China and each time getting worse and longer, I am not getting paid enough to go back.

Did you have any difficulties getting out?

i bet the lavs still reeked of Double Happiness.

There's a thread in the UA forum about a family trying to escape from Shanghai with a little dog. They're concerned that they'll be denied boarding and then sent to separate quarantine centers, including a young child.

Direct link https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...amily-dog.html

Vice just posted a video on Shanghai and... my God this is awful.

I'll likely need to make a trip to China this summer for family reasons, entering on a mix of travel documentation. Wondering what folks think of the following two itinerary options taking into account travel documentation, current quarantine situation, travel cost, and overall risk.

I'll be applying for a new Taibaozheng associated with this trip, and using that for entering China, which is probably the part that makes it the most complicated.

1. SFO -> TPE [via Taiwanese passport]
2. 21 days in Taiwan
3. TPE -> ??? [via Taibaozheng]
4. 4 weeks in China
5. ??? -> SFO

vs:

1. SFO -> TPE [via Taiwanese passport]
2. 21 days in Taiwan
3. TPE -> ??? [via Taibaozheng]
4. 4 weeks in China
5. ??? -> TPE [via Taiwanese passport]
6. ??? days in Taiwan, or direct transit to US
7. TPE -> SFO

I'll be visiting either Qingdao or Shenzhen, will narrow this down based on the COVID situation closer to time of travel.

EDIT: clarified documentation used and lengths of stay

Transit isn't allowed in TPE; transit to enter China in general is only allowed if there are no direct flights, which is not the case if you're starting in SF. Also, if you're only planning on spending 4 weeks in China, most of that will be eaten up by quarantine.

Is "transit" via TPE allowed for Taiwanese passport holders? I imagine the answer is different for US->CN vs CN->US?

I'm not transiting TPE the first time through, I have a Taiwanese passport and would be spending ~20 days, including quarantine, staying a few days to visit family, and taking care of affairs. Second time through TPE would ideally effectively be transit but it's OK for me to re-quarantine, though that would suck.

Yes, for China I'm factoring in, best case, 3 weeks of quarantine + 1 week to take care of essential business.

Yes, as a Chinese passport holder (RoC), this is allowed.

But you won't be in transit in TPE, but rather enter the RoC "normally", ie having to adhere to all the covid protocols that will (possibly) still be active by that time there in the RoC. You'll (most probably - unless things change a lot till then) have an entirely different ticket to actually enter the PRC from the RoC, ie a direct flight from TPE to a PRC airport.

So in your situation, all that really counts is the flight from the RoC to the PRC.

For the return flight, I'd wait and see. If the RoC has stopped quarantine rules by then, probably a quick flight would make things more comfortable, so I'd book a ticket PRC to RoC, again (or even book RoC->PRC->RoC as a return) over a long haul flight Ex-PVG.

But things are most probably quite a bit different in few months time, so I'd wait and see much closer to your travel date.

6 months ago, China's strategy of 0 covid looked still very solid (despite having no exit out of it), now, it's looking more like doom than anything else.

The current thinking in China is that there isn't any hope of zero covid ending before the CCP Congress later this year.

Thanks for the advice. Would you happen to know what the best forum is to get info on whether there are new Taibaozheng issuance restrictions, etc. currently? Would also want to ask around to see if there are travel agents or other facilitators I can hire to help me with booking the paperwork (there's a few steps I need to do before I can get to Taibaozheng).

Agree with YuropFlyer above.
If Taiwan still has quarantine on step 5 of option 2 I don't really see a benefit to going back to Taiwan unless you need to. You can also transit out of HKG or many other countries or find a direct flight back to SFO.

The only Taiwan thread we have here is https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/show...0&goto=newpost, I don't know of other forums.

I enquired about TBZ a couple of months ago and the current requirement is that you need to be present in person. Before, you can fedex documents to family in TW. I got this info from calling Lion Travel (雄獅旅行社). I don't know about applying from anywhere else. If you're in the US I suggest going to Chinatown travel agencies to ask.

So Beijing changed inbound quarantine rules yesterday:
- Need to stay out of Beijing for 14 days before being allowed in.
- If flying directly to BJ, need to do 14 days in centralized quarantine + 7 days health monitoring OR 10 days in centralized quarantine + 7 days home isolation (if you live in BJ)

For close contacts of COVID cases that require centralized isolation: reduced to 10 days centralized isolation + 7 days home isolation
Isolation for secondary close contacts has also been reduced to 7 days (home isolation)

Fortress Covid! 中国加油！

In 4 days, if I manage to get a blue code from SF Consulate.

Staying at Sheraton SJC for the week at $99 plus tax per night and got upgraded to a suite. Toured high tech HQs like Apple, FB, Google, Cisco, Intel. Enjoy California sunshine and food.

It isn't that bad. AFAIK, if I choose Shanghai as quarantine site, I only need to be quarantined 14 days then I can move to a Marriott or RC. I am hoping some local connection can get me a nice quarantine hotel.

Or if I opt Shanghai 3+ Jiangsu 11 option, I'll be moved to hometown in Jiangsu after day 3. I am pretty sure that my hometown government officials and friends will take good care of me such as arranging a suite in the best available quarantine hotel for me. The drawback is that it will be additional +7+7 plus 3+11

By the way my ticket is 35K XN saver award upgraded to J. I am saving $18,000.


Yes I have relatives in China, including very old in-law, and I promised to visit them. I have 4 months in China this trip and should have plenty of time to tour some places. I know 30% of China is locked down, but I can go to the other 70% part of the country. I enjoy sightseeing, especially when it's not crowded.

Most importantly, I am not trapped in any city or 小区. Therefore I only need to be alert that I can escape before any lockdown.

I fully expect that situation in Shanghai will improve significantly in 3 weeks. The stupid zero COVID policy doesn't work. Hopefully the emperor and his lieutenants would realize that the earlier the better.

I don’t tend to like “Emperor” comments but kb1992 is spot on.

Do you prefer The bear's not for turning?

Well, that's certainly more creative, and matching the current political climate, so I say that's approved :D

Palpatine still refuses to change course: https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/06/china...hnk/index.html

Which of these lieutenants is going to be Darth Vader and throw him down the shaft in the Death Star?

I approve that too. :D

We are witnessing that the kingdom is on a slippery curve towards disaster.

But, I am afraid that vast majority of 1.4 billion in the kingdom want zero COVID.

I wouldn't be so sure. Pretty much all of my Chinese friends have had enough of the lockdowns. Hell, even my wife's family, some of whom are (at least on paper) CCP members have had enough. But to the best of my knowledge, no one has polled them to ask.

Rumors swirling around WeChat that Xi won't be re-elected

[citation needed]

on a slightly more serious note, there’s no Xi successor (they’ve all been purged), Jiang faction has no nominee, and princelings don’t have one either. A lack of a re-election would effectively mean a coup by the latter two groups

Citation needed for the rumors swirling around?
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...19325388b2.jpg

He won’t be re-elected simply because he was never elected in the first place. He will, however, maintain the title of General Secretary, President, grand Poobah, Great Helmsman and whatever else he wants to call himself.

I hope, for the future of China, that those rumors are true, but I’m pretty sure they are as accurate as all the we chat rumors about dates the lockdown will lift in Shanghai. Honestly I can’t imagine someone doing a worse job than the Chairman has this year. Absolutely horrid performance in 2022 so far.

Bluehen1, if you just want to post American Anti-China propaganda, might be better if you'd go to Bad OMNI to dump it there.. we're trying to keep it civil here.

And I agree with travelinmanS, 2022 has seen an extremely bad year for President Xi so far. Sure, they managed to hold the Olympic Games in it's bubble fairly well (which actually surprise me, considering how contagious Omicron is), but the failure to change/upgrade their Covid-strategy is in one word, a disaster. They had several months to react/adapt their strategy, once it became clear that Omicron is a major game changer, and all they did was going in the wrong direction.

While his politics prior - both regarding covid and general leadership - are clearly those of a great statemen, his inability to accept the facts you can't always force through your plans no matter what, might come hurt him now hard.

It's like being too successful with something can have bad side effects. Overconfidence, in short.

I still hope for a soon-to-happen adjustment of their covid policies, but recent speeches/events/actions are NOT going in the right direction.

Even without the hyperbole that some used here, it's clear to say: What's going on in China, and especially Shanghai, is failing to cope with reality.

According to xjp, staying the course is the way to go. He thinks China won the battle in Wuhan, and therefore will win again in Shanghai. So I don't see why anyone would think things would magically get better.

In addition to combat COVID itself, one of his top priority right now is to fight against any distortion, doubts or criticism of the governments COVID policies, which includes pretty much every post in this thread, including yours, so there's no need to point finger at others.

This “great statesman” has managed to make his country the laughing stock of the world. He’s up there with the Donald now.

My Trip to China
 

April 30, BOS-EWR-SFO. Checked in Sheraton San Jose. $99 night+tax. As a Marriott Ambassador, I got upgraded to a suite. Good deal.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...8a70320d53.jpg

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...bc2802c7e8.jpg

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...3eeadc1679.jpg

Stayed 8 nights. Did PCR on day 1, Day 6, Antibody S/N and rapid Antigen on Day 6.

Due to 40% capacity restricted imposed by CAAC, many pax on my flight got tickets canceled. My 35K XN ticket survived but PP upgrade was still pending. Called GS at T-24 to see if they can clear my upgrade. Answer: upgrade must be done at the gate. This is a special flight.

Got all test results negative, but applying for health code was a nightmare. The MFA website kept informing me my application was not complete even though I uploaded everything. There is a system bug that if you preview your upload, the files would be auto removed. After 3 failed attempts, I finally successfully got my blue code.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...081e443ec6.jpg

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...445c385efc.jpg

Since I didn't have my upgrade, I can only visit this United Club at SFO G concourse. Not many people there. It was old RCC I believe.


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...dcc153f3ac.jpg


I arrived 70 min prior to departure at the gate. I had a sweet talk with the agent and asked if I could have 15A if my upgrade clears. The agent was quite nice, and called my name after few minutes and handed 15A BP to me. I was the first to board, probably I was the only GS on this flight. Everyone on upgrade list cleared.



https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...404faafb1b.jpg

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...a7214df977.jpg

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...2d3556a92b.jpg

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...d47b4d31b1.jpg

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...afbd985a80.jpg


J cabin was 44/60 and Y cabin had less than 100 pax. Every Y passenger could have a row. FA greeted me and said nice things. Short rib was fairly good. I had a glass of champagne to congratulate myself :-) Inflight Wi-Fi was horrible. Can't do much other than talking to friends in China via WeChat.

The flight was uneventful. 857 took longer to get there to avoid Russian air space. Changed crew at ICN, then continued to Shanghai.

Will update Shanghai quarantine hotel tomorrow.

Awesome trip report, thanks! One heck of a deal for only 35000 miles! 👍🏼
Something tells me that the next hotel won't be as nice as the one in the first three pics! 😂

It could be a world record for 35K miles in exchange of a $20,000 J ticket.

You might be surprised. My Q hotel in Shanghai is actually pretty nice. ;)

I bet they didn't give you a suite upgrade for the duration.