This is a follow-up to my last post: Entering China during COVID, focusing on what to expect at the airport upon arrival.
Disclaimer: everything below is solely based on my experience at the PVG on 5/31/21. Other airport experiences may be different. Even PVG experience may change from time to time.
My flight landed at PVG (Shanghai) on 5/31 around 5:40am, which is roughly 1hr before the scheduled touchdown. Similar to normal times, everyone started to retrieve their carry-ons the minute the plane gated. However, the captain immediately made an announcement that we should remain put, as the quarantine officials still need at least 20min for clearance.
Disembark
Once we were cleared, another announcement was made asking all business & premium class passengers to disembark. Shortly after, passengers seating in rows 18–23 were invited to disembark. So I grabbed my belongings, disembarked, and joined another line outside the terminal building.
Shanghai was much more humid & hotter than Toronto, yet its AC was not as fully blast as Toronto. I definitely over dressed with my late fall/early winter clothes. It wasn’t exactly unbearable, but I did sweat a bit, and wasn’t exactly comfortable, especially with lots of movement as I navigated through the terminal building. So I would recommend dress in layers to accommodate different temperatures/environment. Also pack lightly with your carry-ons, because you’ll literally carry them up & down stairs.
Probably after another 20min of waiting, we were finally let into the building, joining another long line. There was only 1 line for everyone regardless of nationality — in fact, nationalities are meaningless until at the custom checkpoint, where all foreigners are required to submit a custom declaration card.
Once approaching the end of this time, you’ll start seeing lots airport personnel fully equipped with PE asking you to get the red bannered QR code ready. There were also lots stands with instructions:
In case this QR code expired, apply for a new one with the instructions below (basically scan the circular QR code using WeChat — once again tailored to locals). Remember your flight number & seat number.
You should be able to retrieve the red-bannered QR code (obtained at the airport upon checking in, refer to my last post for details) in your photo gallery, as you should’ve screen captured it before. A gentle reminder of how it looks:
COVID Test
Everyone had to scan his/her QR code, check his/her temperature, & have his/her photo taken (with mask on) before proceeding to the next stop, where a staff asks you to fill-out a sampling consent form. Remember to take this form with you. You are required to check both nose & throat at the top-right-hand-corner, for sampling methods.
Continue on this one-way path, escalators are off-limits, so it’s stairs only (I wonder what happens to people with accessibility needs):
You’ll need to once again scan the red-bannered QR code at the next station. Then show the staff the sampling consent form, and get a sampling test tube from the staff before moving to the next, also the worst station, where you’ll give both the form & test tube to the staff & undergo both nasal & throat tests for COVID.
The nasal test here made the PCR test with FH Health a joke. A relative metaphor would be: FH Health is a gentle tap on the shoulder, while the airport is a stab. I almost cried, and continued feeling uncomfortable for the next half an hour or so.
Custom
Once that’s done, you are finally en route to the customs. Remember to stop by one of the counters to fill-out the Custom Declaration Card, if you do not carry a Chinese passport. I blindly followed the people before me to join the line, luckily a staff saw my passport in hand and stopped me to complete the form. So I avoided being sent back by the custom officer.
You’ll have another photo taken at the custom, with mask-off. But fingerprints won’t be collected this time around.
Finally an-all-English banner once passed the customs. Congrats that you finally arrived in China. 🎊🎉
Once passed the customs, you’ll wait & gather your checked-in luggage. It was roughly 8am — yep, this entire process took roughly 2hrs! It could be longer if your seat is further back in the economy, or faster if you were in business/premium.
I thought my luggage would be ready by now, but reality was I had to wait for them. They just started coming, which made me wonder if luggage were also underwent a series of testing & disinfecting procedures. Otherwise, why would it take so long?
Quarantine Hotel
Once gathered all your luggage, you’ll systematically put them on a conveyer belt for a quick scan (standard procedure in China) before proceeding to the next station — distributing to various quarantine hotels.
A staff will ask your final destination, and ask you to turn either left or right accordingly. Though I told him my destination is Shanghai, since my address is a hotel instead of a residential address, I nonetheless got assigned to the “other provinces” line.
In the “other provinces” line, there’s a further split for people going to Jiangsu, Zhejiang, & Anhui provinces.
Once in-line, staff will ask you to scan another QR code to complete another set of form
Scan the above QR code & submit your passport to the staff. Then wait in the designated waiting area. As stated in the prints, all passport will be returned to you at the hotel, during check-in.
Each designated waiting area hosts ~20 people.
En route to bus. Thank god I don’t have to manually carry all my luggage here.
We actually had to wait in the boarding area for the bus. The staff actually calls out names one-by-one based on the passport — priority given to Chinese passport (because they can read & pronounce the names properly). All foreign passports were left to the end, where staff walked up to the remaining individuals, asking them to point out their passports one-by-one.
At ~9am, I finally boarded the bus & left the airport. Definitely a long morning.
