My Second Quarantine

Click pics to enlarge. R: Quarantine Camp from a 2018 TV drama that treats the themes of SARS and the rise of Mail Order and Express Delivery. More TV pics at bottom.

Letter from China (21-1) from doctorjohn: My Second Quarantine and The Odyssey and The Strictness of it 

Happy 2021 Greetings from China, a first for this Blog and me. This is certainly the first post that originates from China. Due to restrictions for Google and lack of English literacy in the general populace, if you look at the flag counter, there are so far 394 visits, approximately 30 only per year! Of course, there may be some hidden ones from expats (and others) here using VPN.

Network I started using my hotel's WiFi. As expected, I cannot access anything Google here, including our own blog. But I have a HK roaming data card (鴨聊佳 recommended by icefox), which works when I tether it to my laptops. I am also happy that both NML and Spotify work here with WiFi. Incidentally, when I play Spotify in HK and China, unlike in NYC gratifyingly there are few ads. Bluetooth Somehow the devices, including H-9 (a gift from Eric L), are not working very well, maybe too much interference. So I listen headphone direct or through the Meridian Explorer.

The Odyssey Here I shall give you some ideas on traveling to China. The organization is very different from Hong Kong, and in many ways shows up the inadequacy of the HK response:

• Test On the 30th I received my negative test (mouth swab) report at 4 pm. As the border checkpoint closes at 8 pm and I knew it'd take forever to get through, I planned to get across the next day. On the morning of the 31st, I suddenly recalled that the time of issue of report was 1:30 pm, which means, to satisfy Chinese rule (for HK residents, within 24 hours of issue of report), I'd have to get to the Chinese side before 1:30. I scrambled and called a taxi and got to the checkpoint at 10:30. It was a beautiful day and the view from the very long bridge that links HK and SZ was spectacular.
  

• The Madding Crowd Getting through HK custom was a breeze using the HKID card. But when I got to the buffer zone I was shell shocked by the sheer number of people. The entire area was packed to the rafters with people zig-zagging through closely spaced lanes. At the end of the line every 5-10 minutes about 10 people would be let through to cue up on the Chinese side. One reason for the large crowd is that starting on Jan 5, travelers would have to book hotels on their own and many older people are not computer savvy. We all had tired feet dragging our luggage up and down the lanes but those with young kids and the elderly had it the worst. Many people, including semi-digital literate I, tried to help other fellow clueless travelers. QR Code Before reaching the Chinese side, it is mandated to have a a personal Health QR code generated by filling an online form using wechat (this code is of singular importance after the quarantine, as many places demand it for entry (including public transit). There is one-hour free hi-fi (from HK Smartone) available, which I used for mine as my HK phone plan has no data usage. Some older folks had some trouble with the form, which has a peculiarity/bug or two, which trapped me for a while, and I helped a couple of them. Around 12, I was getting antsy. I was about 2/3 in but the lines now moved very slowly (perhaps lunch time). Close to 1 pm I became desperate and, scratching my head, emulated what a few desperate ones did before me: "jump" the long queue by inching up the line and asking people to let me overtake them by explaining time is running out. I did this on the HK side and also the Chinese side, which only has 1 worker in full metal jacket  manning the bottleneck entry point (from this point on, everyone is FMJ). He would scrutinize the test report and check our entry documents. Here we had to fill in another form, this time by hand. The old lady ahead of me is illiterate and I filled in some of her information but could not understand her dialect well enough to put down the address. The gentleman behind me pitched in and with considerable effort got it done. And so I got in with a few minutes to spare. Next was another worker making sure everyone has the QR code. A lot of the elderly folks did not have it, so in the adjacent area there were 2 workers helping them do it. That desk was mopped. I sympathize with these senior citizens - such a hard time for them in this digitized age (China much more so than HK and the West). 

• Hiccup Next 2 workers scanned and scrutinized in detail the info inside our QR Codes. The lady smiled at me and said your report is negative, no? I said yes, and she said you made a wrong entry of "yes". I knew what happened, the simplified Chinese of ying and yang (阴 and 阳, negative and positive) are very similar and I misread it on the small phone screen. There'd not have been a problem with traditional Chinese (陰 and 陽). Normally, a simple edit would have done it, but my HK cell has no data. My US T-Mobile phone has maybe 2G usage in China, too slow for the form. The ladies told me there is Wifi there and gave me the code, which somehow still would not work. Finally, the other lady tethered her own cell to mine and I just filled in another form on my US phone and got a new QR code. All that took me almost 40 minutes. Remember my hiccup at the New York airport due to leaving out the middle name, saved by luck and a lady airline staff? Here is a sad scene to witness: in L.A. a family returning to China (crazy expensive tickets) was refused boarding due to a botched QR code (14 days for high risk countries), crying, begging and kowtowing to no avail. I count myself as lucky. I wonder if I didn't get through, upon return to HK would I have to be quarantined for 14 days again?
  

• Arrangement for Quarantine Hotel and Transportation After passing through security (I think you can take any luxury item through as they don't even want to touch your luggage). We had to stop by the appropriate transport desk where we again filled in some information. There are desks for about a dozen districts (SZ is a very big city), as well as the adjacent districts of Huizhou and Shanwei. One could not choose which hotel to stay in; they are assigned. IDs are confiscated at this point. After registration, we were directed to wait outdoors for transportation (unlike ridiculous HK, where travelers are free to go to the hotel by themselves and go about before entering the room). Finally, after 4 hours (add 1-2 more if I had not jumped the queue) I was out in the open. Here the situation is more chaotic. The area is not large enough for the crowd and too few chairs are available. I gave up my seat twice to an elderly and a mother with 2 kids. It was a little windy and the temperature was plunging. Workers here are from the Police Department and they are all FMJ too. They work very hard to round up people for the right bus while holding their IDs, take attendance and find the missing passengers. For our bus, they did a headcount at least 10 times. There are several contributory reasons for the chaos: 1) audio related, as the announcement horns are awful and muffled, so people crowd to get close to hear better; 2) many people in SZ, including the police, speak poor mandarin and even poorer Cantonese. The bus was about 2/3 full, with a partition screen between us and the driver and workers, who came along. After waiting for more than 2 hours, finally we were on the way, not to reach the hotel for almost 2 hours (traffic always heavy in SZ, and it was New Year's Eve). It was nighttime when we arrived.
  

• Testing and the Hotel After we disembarked, we had to wait outside in the frigid weather for testing. I studied the various ID cards in the hands of the workers as they called out the names and returned the cards. I think the travelers were 2/3 HK residents and 1/3 with Chinese ID Cards. It was quite the most serious testing I had undergone. The collection staff were skilled. TWO swabs, one in the oral cavity and one in the nose, both somewhat uncomfortable. My own feeling is this outdoor testing outside the hotel expedites things and is better than testing everyone at the entry point, though this may not be practical for more congested HK. Contactless Check-In There is no traditional check-in, no front counter. We again had to scan another QR code and fill in the form. The form is almost the same as the one at the customs, but is for the hotel. As my phones again failed to work, a young man that I chatted with on the bus tethered his to mine to finish the task. A room had already been assigned. We were given our card keys; each person was given a hot meal and led to the room.

• Room As hotel rooms are assigned it's a roll of the dice when it comes to price and quality. Our group landed in a branch of a large chain (橫崗維亞納). The room is a little old but spacious and comfortable enough. For around the same price, it is way superior to the one of my HK quarantine. For a reasonable price we are served 3 meals a day and the food quality is acceptable. Rules Each room has a stool placed outside, where meals would be put upon. Garbage are put outside the door too. I entered the room and it was freezing cold as the window was open. IMHO that is a good idea after cleaning. The front door handles are wrapped in cellophane. All containers, dish tray cups etc had been removed and replaced by disposables. Relatives and friends can deliver needed items, including food, to the front desk, but cannot go up (unlike ridiculous HK). Ordering delivery is limited to 5 fast-food chains, and delivery to the front desk is limited to certain periods. Also, as I had things that I have to give to others, I found out we are not allowed to leave things for others to pick up. This is perhaps wise, if inconvenient; the basic premise is our stuff also have to be quarantined. Divertissement Importantly, WiFi is stronger here than in the HK Hotel I stayed in (generally data is stronger in China). As for TV, if you are Chinese, there are numerous channels to choose from. But for me, I am only interested in the TV dramas and I am hooked on a couple now that make me stay way past midnight, including the one that I am showing the pics of. This 2018 drama series treated in depth the SARS period, mask wearing, death and recovery, relevant for a re-run during our pandemic. An Incident I received a call from the front desk, asking me if I could help the older man in an adjacent room get on the Wifi. I said yes, donned my mask and went to his door, and the problem was solved. He was happy he could call his family via wechat. But, an hour later, he knocked on my door asking me to teach him how to cycle through the Smart TV channels, and that was done too. Anyway, I think more help and instructions should be provided to the many elderly people who are not so technically minded. Quite a day for them to get through all these hurdles!

Comparison with HK As detailed above, I think SZ does it better, safer and in a more expedient manner. Also, I feel the workers are fully protected, and surprisingly courteous under pressure.

My Fellow Travelers I have to say, I really appreciate the camaraderie and the understanding shown by the folks for those in need or whose time were running out. With the workers overwhelmed and digital demands hard to fulfill by the elderlies, the help provided by fellow travelers was heart-warming. Overall, a well behaved and civically minded crowd. Also, the hotel staff also are significantly more courteous than those in my HK hotel. Is there anything HK does better? Yes, providing sandwiches while we were waiting, and better crowd control, little else.