Read the page about testing on the Chinese Consulate in LA website.

Just one data point:


I was able to get pre-approval from from San Francisco Consulate, then went through the required tests at a designated lab in Northern California, received the green health code, and took the UA flight to PVG, and now is the middle of my 14+7 quarantine in Shanghai before going to Beijing.

Make sure you do the test at the city where the direct flight is departing. I lived in DC, so spent three nights in California in order the do test 48 hours before the flight.

Please follow the consulate and lab instructions to to dot, and also diligently prepare and submit all the required documents online to receive the green code.

There was an anxious wait for my green code, but that was negligence on my part for not reading the online instruction properly and had to resubmit the information.

I uploaded the requirement documents (after receiving the test results) online around 10 pm, and received an orange code within half an hour telling me to submit a missing document. I resubmitted around 11 pm, and got my green code at 9 am next morning (26 hours before the flight).

Hope the above information is useful.

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?}.

AFAICT DL has been operating routes like DTW-(ICN)-PVG several times per week. It's a direct flight with a "technical" stop at ICN to change crew, who immediately fly back to ICN without entering mainland China. This should not be confused with trying to connect at ICN with different flight numbers, including a different DTW-ICN flight that departs around the same time. This would require a COVID-19 test near DTW, not ICN. In fact, passengers don't deplane at ICN at all, not even to use lounges and certainly not to enter South Korea (ROK). It's not a connection or a stopover at ICN, just a technical stop.

Yes, AA, DL, UA...and a bunch of other foreign airlines are still doing the ICN drill (UA and AA were planning on stopping this practice July 1 but that didn't happen). The Chinese airlines fly true nonstops.

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.

Wow that’s great news about the SFO pre approval. Are you on residence permit or special entry visa?

I was rejected 3 times by SFO earlier this year but maybe things are getting easier.

If you have the single entry visa issued after the pandemic then you’re fine. Disregard that. You will get the green code if you follow the testing and submission instructions.

If you are traveling on a residence permit, it is a black box of mystery as to whether or not the consulate will give you the green code even if you do follow the instructions. The success rate varies from consulate. For DC (responsible for the Dallas AA flight), the success rate seems to be 0%. For LAX it seems very high. SFO seemed more challenging as myself and many other coworkers have been rejected there.

I'm curious when you applied for the code when you were rejected by SFO? Before you left China or after you arrived to the USA? Also are you traveling with your work permit and is it a Type A or Type B?

I entered into China using special visa last year. Once I got into China, I obtained the new resident permit.

My plan has always been seeking pre-approval before I leave China to ensure I can get back in.

I applied back in Feb for pre approval, but got rejected, so I stayed put.
Once I received both shots of Sino-Vac, I applied again, and was approved. Based on that pre-approval, I left for the US for a couple of months.

This was Jan/Feb when the rules changed and things were super tight. But I’ve still heard about recent rejections from SFO.

I was in the USA and the pre approval wasn’t a thing at that time. I just did the testing and applied for HDC and got rejected citing “due to severe pandemic please delay.” I got pre approval from LA in March and experienced quarantine in Guangzhou.

Im in China now but will be flying back to the US in 2 weeks. Then back to China in September. I have a flight booked out of SFO and a backup flight out of LAX. Im planning to ask for pre approval mid August once already back in the states.

I don’t have any interest in a Chinese vaccine and I am still TBD on whether I’ll get Pfizer while I’m back. Starting to lean towards yes.

Did you just upload a screenshot of the pre approval response into your HDC application? You could probably sell that screenshot (joking).

The pre approval I got in LA was just a brief copy paste in Chinese and my gut tells me they didn’t actually keep track of anything. Meaning I could just use that screenshot again likely.

Thanks UA_Flyer for all the detailed information! Since I am in a somewhat similar position as you, this is all very helpful.


Not 100% sure, but I thought they now REQUIRE proof-of-vaccine before [re-]entering China, no?

No, a Chinese vaccine skips you the PU Letter but no vaccine is required to enter. And none of the vaccines allow you to skip the quarantine process or give you any special treatment.

There _may_ be preferential treatment given to Pfizer (assuming approval goes through) but there may not. No one knows. [MENTION=10088509]GloballyServiced[/MENTION] if you do get a vaccine in the US obviously get Pfizer not Moderna or J&J.

I’m halfheartedly looking for a country that gives the Chinese vaccine to tourists to skip the PU letter but since it doesn’t give you any preferential treatment I’m honestly not sure what the point is.
If anyone is actually interested in this here is probably a good place to start:
https://covid19.trackvaccines.org/vaccines/7/
https://covid19.trackvaccines.org/vaccines/5/

Okay, understood, thanks for the clarification.