How difficult is it to travel out of China and come back?

Last activity 13 December 2022 by BattlefieldGoddess

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choraMember10 June 2022 00:49:08

I am planning to go back home to the UK on 30th June 2022 for two weeks. My work visa is expiring on 18th August 2022. Do you think I will be able to make it back to China before my visa expires and have time to apply for a new work visa considering the fact that I have to quarantine?

andylkjMember10 June 2022 00:55:59

@chora Hi Chora, it is highly not recommended to do so at the current moment. There is a serious challenge in the number of flights being operated between countries gloablly with china. Have you secured your flights yet? Do recommend to reapply both the WP and RP before departure.

maybe direct message (DM) me if you need more info.

Andy

A-DocMember10 June 2022 04:54:32

There is big chance that you won't be able to get your new visa in time. Consider moving your trip forward, or applying for and getting your new visa before you go.

martjoNew member12 June 2022 09:15:02

Yes the issues are Visa and flights. There are still no direct flights to and from UK as far as I understand. Flights via Amsterdam, Zurich or Frankfurt are very expensive with difficult connections (unless your company is paying). I paid £5000 for flight from Abu Dhabi to Shanghai last October and they are still only flying once a week (Etihad). Getting out of China is relatively easy, back is virtually impossible. It took me 18 months over 2020-2021 to get back after going over to Dubai for a 'long weekend' for the 2020 CNY. Made it back against all odds on 4th October last year. I would not risk it at the moment especially with the unpredictable situation with lockdowns appearing at moment's notice.

choraMember12 June 2022 11:19:10

@martjo Thanks for sharing your experience. This will definitely help me in my decision making process. I really appreciate.

choraMember12 June 2022 11:19:42

@A-Doc Thanks for your reply. I appreciate.

mrangryActive member04 July 2022 10:31:37

Things seem to be opening up somewhat.

I came back to the UK in March because of family problems, and am only now about to start to try getting back. I flew PEK -> HGH -> DOH -> LHR, all booked through Qatar Airways. It wasn't especially straight forward, but not terrible.
EG, the 'health code' scan thing was a bit of a pita at HGH, since I had no internet access (my SIM is a UK roaming SIM[0]) so my BJ one wouldn't work, but Air China helped me a lot (as did a note in Chinese written by my wife to explain my circumstances).

"Notice on Updated Requirements for Chinese Visa Application 2022-06-17 20:39"

http://gb.china-embassy.gov.cn/eng/visa … 705657.htm

I have a family residency permit which is due to expire in September, so I have a similar urgency to get back before it expires.

For me, it is just about the flight. I imagine I could get the same journey in reverse, though I don't seem to be able to book it online. Qatar's web site is contradictory - showing prices for flights on the date widget (starting 14th of August), but after selecting saying there are no flights.

It'd be interesting to see what airports have flights into China...that is surprisingly difficult to find out

[0] CMlink - 'free' roaming from UK in China...worth getting when you're in the UK. No Great Firewall on the connection either, which is helpful...it seems to have a route through somewhere in the UK (EE network) so your 'public IP address' is a UK one, so some Chinese things don't work properly, like the Beijing Health Kit...actually, it's pretty much just that (maybe Luckin too).

mrangryActive member04 July 2022 12:56:37

@mrangryhttps://www.cmlink.com/uk/

They offer the same service from many countries: https://www.cmlink.com/brand/index.html

IIRC, they used to offer it to people from the US too, but, lol, the US government stopped that...which is kind of ironic since it is a legal way to bypass the Great Firewall from within China

BeijingBobActive member18 July 2022 08:27:11

@chora Considering that I myself left China on the 6th of August 2021 with the idea to return in 3 months but am currently still trying to get back in before my work visa expires on the same day as yours over a year since I left I’d say you’re taking a huge risk. You never know what is going to happen while you are away.

I was supposed to come back last November but I caught Covid so had to cancel my flight and rebook for January. Then Covid flared up in China again so the government canceled that flight. Many months later, June, they start letting flights in again but I can’t get a flight because no direct flights from UK and some other silliness.

So two weeks ago I find I can do a connecting flight in Rome with a one week stopover to allow for re-testing. Direct service from Rome to China ChongQing had just begun there on 7 July So I fly from London to Rome on 7 July with my connecting flight being 14 June which should get me back and out of quarantine in time to process my visa renewal. BUT on 8 July, the morning after arriving in Rome the Chinese government cancels my flight on the 14th and suspends flights from here UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. Now I’m stranded in Rome rebooked TENTATIVELY for a flight back on 28 July arriving 29 with 7+3 days quarantine just in time to renew my visa by 18 August IF NOTHING ELSE GOES WRONG

Moral of the story: If you go beware things might not go exactly by the plan. Proceed at your own risk. Good Luck!

mrangryActive member18 July 2022 08:39:15

#10

@BeijingBob What airlines were you flying with? Did you need to get a visa for Italy for you lay-over? Did you have someone to help you with it all, or did you do it yourself?

oh...and the price? I'm finding any options to be horrendously expensive - many thousands of £, even for economy.

xiaomengxingNew member18 July 2022 08:50:52

#11

@BeijingBob

welcome back to china

AlinaBMYMember18 July 2022 09:08:53

#12

Hi.

Yes, roundtrip flight tickets are exorbitantly priced, needless to say one way trip.

Leaving China with all the 2 vaccines taken plus booster helps and the 24 hours PCR test before checking-in. Be sure to get your International Traveller’s Health Vaccination certificate and Suikang PCR test result.

To Italy? Need to find out on the country website whether you are required to apply the temporary transit visa. Just make sure your PCR test result in within the 24 hours result. However, the requirements varies country to country.

Returning to Cn, you need to find out from China Embassy in the domicile country.

VANNROXChina expert19 July 2022 01:14:06

#13

632

I do NOT advise exiting China.

I am in Jida / Zhuhai. I am in quarantine now.

I can confirm that returning to China will be easily jeopardized by just about anything. I strongly advise you NOT to leave China.

mrangryActive member20 July 2022 06:09:19

#14

I've come to the conclusion that it is still a bad idea to leave China, if you intend of returning any time soon.

Still, it seems like Lufthansa have flights from Frankfurt to Beijing, although all seem to be full.

Hainan airlines seem to have most availability through Brussels and Xi'an.

The thing, though, is the RT-PCR tests required. You need two before you leave the UK and two at the airport that you depart from into China (eg Frankfurt/Brussels). For each pair of tests, the two tests must be with 48 hours of the flight, and 24 hours between them; AND, each of the two tests needs to be done at a different lab.
Frankfurt airport's test facility seems to handle that last rule most nicely ('test for china - first' and 'test for china - second'), while Brussels seem to need you to find a 2nd one yourself.

Brussels has the advantage of being able to get their by train, as well as flying.

The flight prices, though, are still crazy. I was looking at ~£4000 for economy and ~£8000 for business, one way. I don't think there's too much difference between the airlines.

Hainan Airlines, at least, allowed the flights to be changed for free, so that is something - eg if you don't 'time' your PCR tests correctly, or even fail one of them.

There's also the issue of passport expiry. The EU doesn't recognise passports longer than 10 years, and some passports have months added beyond that (mine did), so you need to 'add 10' to the issue date rather than looking at the expiry date. They also require that there be 3 months validity beyond the date you plan to leave the EU. For me, this made everything very 'tight'.

I think there is a huge number of Chinese people (students) that have been stuck in Europe that are filling all the flights, so there's no downward pressure on the prices. Hopefully that will change over time.

Ultimately, I decided not to go back just now and wait longer until UK direct flights started again. It's all simply too complicated and the risk of losing large amounts of money is too high.
This likely means me letting my residence permit expire, but means I can still use my passport to its expiry date.

Maybe there's a way to renew a residence permit while in the UK due to the (not so) unusual circumstances.

BeijingBobActive member20 July 2022 08:23:18

#15

@mrangry

I flew ITA Air from London to Rome. But UPDATE on my situation, As I said I was supposed to be flying to ChongQing on the 14th on Hainan but they canceled all flights and tentatively booked me for a new flight on the 28th of July. Now as of last night (19/07) they canceled that tentative booking and told me no further flights until 18, SEPTEMBER! So, now I’m scrambling to find a new flight. There are a couple more cities with direct flights to China being Paris, Helsinki, Amsterdam and Brussels. Seems like Brussels is the most reasonable so I’m probably going to go there next.

Trouble is that wherever you stopover you must check the Chinese Embassy requirements and you must do all the testing in EVERY country you stop at even if it was supposed to be a quick transit it will turn into a 5 or 6 day layover instead. So I need to get two PCR tests done here in Italy in a 48 hour period before I can move over to Brussels to wait for any possible flight from there.

I did get some help with organizing the tickets from my wife’s Secretary but a lot I’m doing myself. So much stress and headaches and I need to get back in time to renew my visa otherwise I’ll have to stay outside longer and apply for a new one from somewhere else causing further delays

Oh you asked me about the visas. I am American so no need visas for travel in EU

BeijingBobActive member20 July 2022 08:27:13

#16

@mrangry

Oh you asked me about the visas. I am American so no need visas for travel in EU

mrangryActive member20 July 2022 08:36:30

#17

@mrangry
...you must do all the testing in EVERY country you stop at even if it was supposed to be a quick transit

I'm not sure that's accurate, though it might be[1].

My understanding is that it needs to be in your origin country, and the country that you leave in order to enter China....so, if that's right, you wouldn't need to have the ones in Rome, since it's neither your origin nor your last transit country.

From my checking, the rules for each country have been the same, which kind of makes sense...though, of course, you need to submit your RT-PCR results to the local embassy to get your 'HDC green code'

[1]

http://gb.china-embassy.gov.cn/eng/visa … 716402.htm

"
Ⅳ. Passengers taking transit routes need to obtain an HDC green code in the UK and another HDC green code in the last stop before entering China. Please check the website of the Chinese Embassy in the last stop country for the detailed requirements.
"

mrangryActive member20 July 2022 08:54:48

#18

@mrangry
Oh you asked me about the visas. I am American so no need visas for travel in EU
- @BeijingBob

Interestingly, it seems that UK citizens also do not need a visa for the EU...for the typical short period (was it 90 days?)...so I'm ok there.

The EU restrictions on passport validity, though, hits me

mrangryActive member20 July 2022 08:58:32

#19

@BeijingBob

It sounds like you're having the nightmare that scared me off even trying.

Re the double 2x RT-PCR tests; if you're not a UK citizen, perhaps the rules are different for you...not sure.

mrangryActive member20 July 2022 09:18:27

#20

One comment from my attempts.

The customer support for Hainan Airlines was excellent - they even called me back a couple of times (from China to the UK). Similarly for Air China (issues with my Phoenix account with them).

I did have to call China to talk to them, but they were much more helpful than the Westernal airlines. Having a CMLink SIM helped since it includes 'IDD minutes' for UK -> China (as well as others, including the USA I see).

It's not often I have anything positive to say about Chinese customer support, so there you go

Their web sites, though, are still pretty aweful, imo.

BeijingBobActive member25 July 2022 09:43:02

#21

@mrangry Sorry to scare you off going. It is difficult. As for the double PCR tests it seems that is the rule no matter where you come from. They seem to be standardizing it. That was the rule when I left the UK it was the rule for leaving Italy and now I see it’s the same rules for leaving Belgium

Not sure if I mentioned earlier but I ended up having to Relocate to Belgium after my flight from Italy got canceled/Suspended until 18 September

BeijingBobActive member25 July 2022 09:46:53

#22

@BeijingBob as a follow-up to my previous post I did have to move myself to Belgium after my flight that was scheduled to go from Rome on 28th July got canceled and then pushed back twice to what is now 18 September. So I flew over to Belgium. I am currently in Brussels and hopefully my flight from here to Xi’an won’t have any further issues and I can get home HU492 is the Brussels to Beijing flight but because of whatever pandemic rules they have they re-route you to Xi’an instead

mrangryActive member25 July 2022 09:53:37

#23

@BeijingBob Ah, if you 'relocated', then perhaps that means means your 'origin' changes too. It seems pretty clear from the Chinese embassy web sites that you only need to do 4, no matter how many 'transit' airports you go through.

You didn't scare me off specifically...you kind of just confirmed the decision my wife and I made. We almost decided to fork out the cash, and the hassle...but it seemed like it would probably cause a problem for my work too (though I can work remotely).

mrangryActive member25 July 2022 09:57:05

#24

@BeijingBob It seems like Lufthansa from Frankfurt fly directly to Beijing...but I wasn't able to find any seat with them. Also, the airport has 'china specific' test facility (ie one place for both test, but they use different labs, as per chinese embassy rules). But, yeah, no seats kind of rules that out.

I forget, but I guess you didn't get to take the tests in Rome in the end, since they cancelled before the time threshold? ...or no?

jonnfaircrest12New member06 December 2022 12:53:14

#25

@BeijingBobwelcome back to china
-@xiaomengxing

I love China I have been to China 8 times in the past before Covid I am on a dating app exchanging letters with her for over a year

the app site has twice a year meet and greet socials which has 2-3 years here been canceled because of Covid

i am hoping that they will resume the social this coming March 2023 if so will I have to quarantine when I come I have had 3 Covid shots back in April 2022 If I have to quarantine I will miss the social unless I come early

I work it would be difficult to come early

i miss China so much I married a Chinese lady but she divorced me I want to try again

BattlefieldGoddessMember13 December 2022 03:34:37

#26

@jonnfaircrest12 - May I know the name of the dating app?

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