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Arriving in Shanghai

… do you remember: I was spending a day in Frankfurt drinking Aperolspritz? So here is what happened next…

  • finally on my seat!
  • I am grateful to be able to travel business, where you can stretch your body nearly flat…
    • these last (for about 2 weeks) nights before departure were not too resting for me
    • and this is a night flight starting at 10pm!
  • the plane is quite full
  • some passengers with head to toe protecting gear (overall, mask, glasses…)
  • oh. did I mention I had a little problem? My screen was too far away for my reading glasses. So flying economy would be better – there you have it on your lap (nearly) 🙂

  • no service before take off (!?!) – which is a nice treat in normal cases
    • I saw that in the 1st class they did offer drinks before take off – if only I took the “special offer to upgrade from Business to 1st class for only 850 EUR”! 🙂
  • dinner, 2 movies, some sleep, measuring the temperature by the crew, filling in the China Customs Entry Form (in paper)…
  • enjoying the last “western” breakfast – with a glass of Champagne.
  • Cheers to the new adventures!!

When I saw the land through the window, I became emotional. The new chapter of my life starts with the touch down. I hope it will be a good one!

Corona adjusted routine starts, and you are walking from first to last “station”:

  1. your customs code is checked (mine was valid few more minutes, so the kind lady helped me renew it: she looked a bit puzzled and nervous as I did not had it all in WeChat app like the China travellers do – but somehow she managed to renew it on her laptop – thanks god!)
  2. you receive a paper, where you sign, they are allowed to do a PCR test
  3. with that paper, you get a tube with your name
  4. down the stairs and off you walk to the testing center, where they take a sample from your nose and throat and put all 4 sticks to your tube. (each nostril gets 1 stick and 2 for the throat)
  5. temperature is measured

Then you head to the border control. And as very often: who heard of Slovenia? (we have a joke that from a Chinese point of view – we all live in 1 of the bigger skyscrapers – as we – Slovenian population – are so few compared to BIG cities of China!)

  • and then I finally (4pm) get my suitcases – yes the heavy ones!
  • now you go for the bus shuttle to the quarantine hotel:
    • first you need to fill in a form online
    • then your passport is taken (which will be returned in the hotel)
    • you wait for others to be enough for a (half) full bus
    • and then – off you go 🙂

Timeline: touch-down in Shanghai at 14:45 and at 5 pm I was sitting in the bus, the ride to the hotel took about 1 hour.