I believe you’d need to fly directly from the USA in order to be approved for the HDC code that gets you into China. So by all means go enjoy Thailand for 3 months (although I doubt it’s enjoyable at the moment) but don’t count on it being a route back into the Middle Kingdom. If you want back in here you need to fly from the USA.

Interesting. Better email / call the Chinese embassy in Thailand to see if they will issue a green code for non-Thai citizens. If you're in no hurry, you can enter Thailand via their Sandbox scheme - no quarantine! Just stay in a combination of Phuket / Samui / Krabi for 14 days and you're free to roam about the country.

Thailand would mean the sandbox for you?

The Thailand PRC consulate issues green codes and its website specifically says visas meet the residency requirement. I plan on calling them to confirm though, and will happily jump through more hoops.

There are several threads about the sandboxes, and they seem a lot more appealing than hanging out inside a room at a 7 days inn for 2+ weeks. Plus, I can fly one stop from JFK to HKT in biz class for less coin than Y on UA, DL, or Chinese airlines. (AA isn't really an option because people like us still aren't getting green codes from the DC consulate.)

Btw I realize that the Thailand thing wouldn't spare me of quarantine in China, but I'd probably be arriving in better spirits v UA858.

The notice I see on the Chinese embassy in Bangkok’s website seems to say if your country has a direct flight to China they won’t issue you the green code from Thailand. Maybe you’re right though as my Chinese isn’t good enough to understand it fully.

I would definitely be interested to hear if this is an option because as you say, the flight from Thailand after a month or two in Phuket sounds much better than UA 857.

Jeez the website is terrible. Most of the information is from like 2013. I was able to find this information though, from Oct. 30, 2020:



"Based on virus prevention requirements of Beijing, direct flights to Beijing are limited to Chinese citizens and citizens of the local country [Thailand]. Other nationalities are strictly prohibited from transiting here to enter Beijing"

Source: ?????????????????????????????????????

So old info, but at least back then seems like if you're not flying to Beijing it might be ok? BTW the same page says you'll need to get that blood serum test and it has to be negative, which isn't gonna happen nowadays with the vaccine.

I saw that but the one I was referring to was ????????????/?????????????? an announcement dated this month which says this:　　（二）如拟入境泰国后乘航班赴华　　

　　1、如始发国有直航赴华航班，有关旅客应搭乘直航航班赴华。我馆将不为此类乘客发放健康码，如当事人已 抵泰，须退回始发国，重新搭乘直航航班赴华。　　

　　2、如始发国无直航赴华航班，确需入境泰国中转赴华的，应遵循“只转一次”原则，从始发国搭乘直航航班 来泰，并从泰国搭乘直航航班赴华。乘客须向驻始发国的中国使领馆申请健康码，并凭该健康码截图、泰国检测机 构出具的核酸和血清抗体检测报告、来泰签证页及机票行程单等材料向我馆申请健康码。如无始发国健康码，我馆 将不予审发赴华健康码。　　

Ah you're right. Nice how they don't replace the old page with this one or at least point to it...

This page at least addresses the vaccine issue. And the part you quote is clear enough, but it's mainly addressed towards transfers the way I read it. It still doesn't address the issue of non-Thai foreigners who are Thai residents or aren't transferring. Better call them Moondog.

There is no doubt that a direct transit is forbidden and you won't get a green code. The grey area is when do you stop being a transit passenger and start being a resident. Clearly they're not forbidding all third-country tourist visa holders from entering China, e.g., if you hold a tourist visa in Australia and are travelling from Australia to China you will get a green code. The question is how many days do you have to spend in the third country for you to move from the transit side of the line over to the resident side, nobody really knows the answer but hopefully moondog will find out for us where the line is at least as far as Thailand is concerned.

Right. Also, does the visa type matter? If you enter on a sandbox COE (certificate of entry, they call it), do you need to change your status to something else to qualify for a green code?

Is there a good way of seeing what direct flights are operating to China right now in the near future?

Since many flights are sold out, it's been hard to find availability and space because of the capacity restrictions.

Follow “Expat Focus” on wechat. They post the flight list updates every month. The latest update was July 27th. Once you follow their account you can scroll down to see the article that contains this list.

As far as I can see each and every UA and DL flight to China for the coming months has plenty of seats.

Another one to follow is HeyExpat

Why is moondog suspended?

also, a return flight from Shanghai to NYC are pricing at $70K USD one way for business class. Damn!

I don’t know why MU has such ridiculous pricing. Perhaps they have lower fares from Chinese travel agents. Anyhow reasonably (for the time) priced trips are all available through LAX, SEA and SFO.