How I travelled from the UK to China during the pandemic

Trip Preparation

I’m a Chinese citizen who lives in the UK. I’m from Hangzhou, China. This article explains how I travelled home during the pandemic.

Until December 2021, China only allowed limited airlines to enter and a limited number of flights per week. Finnair was one of the permitted airlines, so I booked my flight with them. Each week there’s only one day that has flights. I booked the flight with the shortest duration, 29 h 35 min:

• London Heathrow (LHR) to Helsinki Vantaa (HEL): 2 h 50 min
• Overnight transfer: 17 h 50 min
• Helsinki Vantaa (HEL) to Shanghai Pudong International (PVG): 8 h 55 min

It’s pretty complicated and unpleasant to travel to China right now.

• The flights are very expensive. Mine cost around £3,000.
• You need to take lots of tests.

Expensive Flying Cost

7 days before my flight, I needed to get a negative COVID test (The nose and tonsils test). I took the NHS home test because it’s free. I was worried about getting a positive result back then because I went to a concert not long before the test date. It was a small one, but the venue was packed.

Two days before the flight, I needed a PCR + IgM antibody test (The nose and tonsils + the blood test). I did it at a Chinese pharmacy.

There are detailed posts on a Chinese app called Red Book about how to travel from the UK to China. The posts said that I needed to take an additional “N protein IgM antibody test” since I had two doses of the Pfizer vaccine.

These tests before the flight cost around £350.

I also needed to book the PCR + IgM antibody test at Helsinki airport during the overnight transfer, which cost £255. The overnight transfer ensured that the test results would come out before the next flight from Finland to China. So the total cost to fly was about £3600.

Lots of Tests/Documents

Ever since I booked the flight, I was stressed. Some people tested positive while at Helsinki airport. Some people needed to quarantine in Finland, and some needed to go back to the UK and then quarantine. That means all the money they spent on the flight would be wasted.

There were lots of tests I needed to take and things to do:

• NHS COVID test exactly 7 days before the flight date.

For example, if the flight is on a Wednesday, the test must be done on the previous Wednesday. I did the test twice to make sure there would definitely be a result because I heard some might come out unclear.

• Start recording my own temperature for the next 7 days until the flight date
• PCR + IgM antibody test two days before the flight
• Fill out an application form for a green QR code on WeChat mini app one day before the flight

The information is manually checked, and without the QR code, you can’t get the boarding pass. The information includes:

• The vaccination details and proof
• Passport details
• Visa status
• Test results
• Last 7 days’ temperatures
• Hand-written declaration of staying in the UK for the past 14 days, etc..

The Actual Flights

Arriving at Helsinki Airport

Getting onto the first plane was not that different from pre-COVID time. After arriving at Helsinki airport, there were two things I needed to do before I start my overnight stay:

• Go to the transfer service desk
• Do the PCR +IgM antibody test

I showed the staff at the transfer service desk my green QR code, my passport. Then they pointed me to the PCR + IgM antibody test area. They did the nose + the blood test. The nurse who did the nose went really deep inside. It feels like it reaches my throat from my nose…

Due to COVID restrictions, the airport hotel was closed. So any overnight transfer passengers need to stay overnight at the airport.

I made a mistake by taking the overnight bag with me to the testing point. It was inconvenient to hold with your arms. I should have picked up the bag after I did the test because the bags were right next to the transfer service desk.

###Stay Overnight at the Airport The overnight bag includes:

• a pair of slippers
• a travel kit with a toothbrush and toothpaste
• some moisturisers
• earplugs
• an eye mask
• a quilt
• a pillow
• a bottle of water

The quilt was a bit thin. It was quite cold at the airport. There were some ambient sounds next to the spot I planned to sleep in. It was loud, and the light was bright. With the help of earplugs and the eye mask, I managed to sleep for 5 hours.

The Flight from Helsinki to Shanghai

The next day was pretty easy. I waited for the result to come out and then used the new and old information to apply for the new green QR code. The previous one expired after arriving at the Helsinki airport.

The airport staff gave the entire passengers on the same flight as me 2 x €17 vouchers. They can only be used for specific restaurants.

The flight journey was mostly the same before COVID. Except, between each passenger, they reserved an empty seat.

I got assigned to a window seat. I don’t usually like the window seats. It’s not convenient for me to go to the toilet and it feels like less legroom than the corridor seat. It was alright this time, the empty seat reservation was acting in my favour.

After Arriving at Shanghai Pudong Airport

While in the Airport

The procedure was quite simple too. I did the COVID (nose and tonsils test) and passed the border control. After collecting my luggage, the staff asked my final destination closer to the exit.

My final destination was Hangzhou, which is in Zhejiang province and close to Shanghai. Different provinces have different quarantine policies. (Shanghai is a municipality directly under the Central Government.)

All quarantine needs to be done in hotels with people monitoring. There are two ways of quarantine for my destination:

1. 14 + 7: Staying at Shanghai hotel for 14 + 7 days, 14 days in one hotel and 7 days in a hotel of your choice.
2. 3 + 11 + 7: 3 days in Shanghai, 11 days in Jiaxing (a city in Zhejiang province, which is between Shanghai and Hangzhou), then 7 days in Hangzhou.

I chose the latter one, mainly because I don’t need to quarantine for too long consecutively, I could step outside for a little bit when the staff transfer me to a new hotel. Plus the hotel fee would be cheaper.

After I made my choice, I filled in an online form and waited for the staff to take a group of people, including me, to the hotel by a private sanitised bus.

The Quarantine Hotels

The hotels are all randomly assigned to people and you need to pay by yourself. The one in Shanghai that was assigned to me wasn’t that great. The hotel is quite old, and I needed to wipe the furniture inside myself. They were dusty. I wasn’t sure why it was like that.

They did allow essential goods delivery and food that does not need extra care to be stored at normal temperature. It was a twin-bed room. Once I stepped inside the room, I cannot step outside of the room until quarantine ended.

There was a small desk outside the door for placing food and parcel deliveries, I could open the door to collect food which the staff delivers. I can open the windows too.

The fourth morning, I got transferred to a Jiaxing hotel by a private bus. I got lucky this time.

Although it did not allow food delivery and only allowed essential goods delivery, it had a wide range of optional food selections. There were snacks and optional hot food that you can order from the hotel.

Most importantly, the room was much better than the previous hotel room. The decoration was more modern and felt cosier. Plus, the price was much cheaper than the Shanghai one, almost half cheaper.

Later about 9 days in my quarantine, I started to struggle a bit. Good thing that I was working remotely so a big part of the day can be occupied. For the rest of the time I was writing this blog, watching shows, and practicing the Chinese flute Xiao.

There were a lot of food in each meal. I didn’t really exercise much in the room, so ended up gaining some weight at the end of quarantine. Here are a few photos of the food they provided:

On the 14th day of my quarantine, I got transferred from Jiaxing to Hangzhou and started the final 7 days of my quarantine. The hotel I stayed in was a relatively old hotel, but I was on a very high floor so the view was better than the previous hotels.

A Short Summary

This is my experience travelling from the UK to China during the pandemic. My quarantine days are considered to be short. Some provinces require people to quarantine for 28 days. It’s hard for Chinese people to enter China, not to mention foreigners.

As a person who works in the UK and whose families are in China, I really hope China can reduce the quarantine time or come up with a better way to control the COVID situation soon.