DaileyB

My deceased wife was from Wuhan and my children (Son 20) and (Daughter 16) would like to visit their relatives. I assume there is no reasonable way to visit Wuhan. I am wondering whether members of the family (aunts and uncles and cousins) could potentially go to a place like Hong Kong and may be we could meet there. Haven't seen the family for 2 years. If anyone from the board has any ideas as to how we could meet, they would be appreciated.

tauphi

Yes they could visit Hong Kong or even the USA after 8 November. However, no matter where they go upon return to China they would need to undergo mandatory quarantine.
Your son could obtain a visa to China if he is willing to take the Sinovac vaccine which is available in Hong Kong and some other countries. Your daughter is not eligible for Sinovac because of her age.

Palal

The earliest the country will open up is after the winter olympics. Obviously, this is not guaranteed, but nothing will happen before.

UA_Flyer

There are also Hong Kong quarantine requirements in for international travelers entering Hong Kong.

uanj

Yes, and there is a certain, very important political meeting up north in October next year. I don't foresee any significant changes in HK or the Mainland unless COVID basically dies out before then.

moondog

In HK, you can choose your own hotel, and you might be permitted to leave your room. Hotel selection is also possible in Shanghai if you can figure out how to swing VIP service, but I failed at this mission. But, at least I didn't get assigned to a 7 Days Inn. My biggest issue with my hotel was the prison feeling. Examples: 1. deliveries between 8a and noon (Times Grocery doesn't deliver until afternoon; we solved this problem), 2. getting ramen sent to the room required a day in advance booking; 3. trash pickup occurred at 7p sharp, and I leaving it in the hall wasn't an option; 4. the nurses stopped by at 6a every day (not a big deal); 5. no heating (they told me that this will no longer be an issue after Nov 1).

DaileyB

Thanks for everyone's help. Doesn't look like there is a practical way to do this. I will try to check around some more. Maybe I can stumble upon something.

moondog

Even now, your plan is potentially doable, but with only if you are willing to endure considerable inconvenience, and cost. If the hotel q period gets reduced to 7 days after the Olympics, it would be a little more viable (the way I see it, you can jetlag yourself for the first ~3 days, 4 more won't make anyone too stir-crazy). Even in this scenario, I'd advocate a meeting place such as Thailand or Singapore. Then, only the Chinese relatives would have to undergo quarantine upon return to China. I suppose you could also invite the Chinese relatives to the US. In any event, I advise you to refrain from setting any plan into motion as long as the current rules are in place.

DaileyB

I have started thinking that maybe the best plan would be to invite family members to the US. When they return to Wuhan they will be quarantined in their own city, which is the least worst alternative that I see. The younger people in family would like to visit. No doubt the older people have little inclination to come to the US.

gudugan

I agree, I think this is the best plan. I know others in a similar situation and they are planning on something like this. Meeting in a third country (in Asia) is risky because the rules/regulations could change rapidly and that throws off the plan. Meeting in a third country in Europe is probably possible but then everyone is flying instead of just one group.

This obviously assumes that the relatives don't have visa problems entering the US. The Chinese passport is relatively weak so a potential Europe plan could also have visa issues.

If there are visa issues, the best potential 3rd country would be somewhere where
1) no visa needed for Chinese passport
2) no visa needed for US passport (much easier)
3) no entry or exit covid restrictions

travelinmanS

AFAIK, the EU has said that Chinese tourists will be allowed to visit once EU tourists are allowed to visit China. So that scuttles the EU plan.

gudugan

In general that's true but there are exceptions. For the sake of being pedantic, I'll give one. One would need to find a country that is both a) accepting of anyone with vaccination and b) one that also accepts Sinovac/Sinopharm as valid vaccinations [hint: most European countries do not]. One potential answer is Spain.

https://www.spth.gob.es/info-pcr
It is very important to note that Sinovac/Sinopharm are not accepted by the European Medicines Agency but they are accepted by the World Health Organization

https://www.mscbs.gob.es/en/profesio.../nCov/spth.htm
This is all to say you should probably avoid this and just meet in the US instead... If anyone doesn't have a Schengen visa this plan is dead in the water.

YariGuy

This assumes there is a direct flight from somewhere in the US to Wuhan (I'm not sure, I haven't checked the latest). Current China regulations are that you must quarantine in the arrival city (and possibly again at your final destination).

plunet

The other thing to throw into the mix... If the Chinese nationals don't happen to have a current valid passport there may be 'fun' trying to get it renewed, the PRC restricted the renewal of passports quite a while back unless you had a very compelling reason acceptable to the government. Not sure if these restrictions are still in place...

DaileyB

Even more obstacles. Ugh. Working on doing something that would make sure something like 5 or 8 years don't go by until they can visit. I am really pessimistic because the vaccines only seem to be effective for about 6 months. If that is the case, Covid may never go away.