Dear Friends,
A bit longer than previous posts but wanted to share a little about our return to Shanghai. On March 16 we were requested to return to Shanghai by March 25 in order to ensure we had time to complete a 14-day quarantine before the opening of school. The school had been waiting for the Shanghai Education Commission to identify a return school date. However, with the Coronavirus situation escalating all over the globe, the school feared a pandemic (yet announced) as well as airport shutdowns and wanted to ensure staff could travel back safely.
We immediately began our search for tickets finding something for March 31, which we booked. As the days went on, the situation in the US continued to get worse and reports from school were identifying Asian countries that were closing borders to transit. As all US flight carriers were not currently flying into China, we needed to connect elsewhere. We decided to see if we could get other flights out earlier.
We booked a flight on two separate tickets to leave on March 20 via Taipei, Taiwan. A couple of days before, we received information that Taiwan was no longer allowing transit passengers that were not on a through ticket. We canceled. I found another flight via Taipei on two separate tickets but the transfer was in the US, which would not be a problem. A day or two later, Taipei stopped transit flights altogether. Again, we canceled that flight.
During a four day period, we checked every airline website, calling several airlines to get us back earlier than the March 31 date. This became our full-time job. The only flights we were finding were costing anywhere from 2,000-8,000 USD one way per ticket. On Monday, March 23 I got up and started checking sites again. I found an available flight that left on Tuesday, March 24 and got us into Shanghai on Thursday, March 26. This ticket had a 23-hour layover in Japan. I immediately booked it.
Throughout this time, I was in a chat with others trying to get back to Shangai from the US as well. News regarding travel via Japan was not good. They had changed some of their transit regulations too and would not be allowing transit passengers as of March 26 at midnight. This got us through Japan a day before the shutdown. We left our small town of Englewood, Florida at 3:53 am Tuesday, March 24,
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| Another passenger gearing up for the flight. |
driving to Tampa to get our first flight to Houston.
We normally fly Delta and this was our first experience with United. At check-in, they would not check our bags all the way through to Shanghai and were quick to rush us off, not providing much support. This caused a bit of stress on our part but we had agreed we would remain calm through this long journey home. Upon arrival in Houston, the staff at All Nippon Air was much more friendly and helpful, finding our bags and tagging them all the way through to Shanghai and also giving us boarding passes (which United said was impossible).
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| Houston to Tokyo |
The flight to Tokyo was uneventful and upon arrival, we breezed through immigration and customs (there was only one other foreigner on the flight). As we arrived, we received a message that China would no longer be allowing foreigners to enter after March 28. We realized we were just going to make it back. We got the shuttle bus to the airport hotel. I went out for a walk to enjoy the fresh air and cherry blossoms while Brad took a nap. We spent the 23 hours in our hotel room, getting out for one other walk and downstairs to the vending machines for water and snacks.
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| Narita Airport Tokyo, Japan |
The next day, we went back to Narita airport in Tokyo, which is a beautiful airport with everything nearly fully automated. As we went through security, there was only one other family anywhere in sight. The airport was quiet. Getting ready to board our flight, we ran into another couple I work with and students from my school. The flight was full. All passengers filled out health declarations before boarding. All passengers had their temperature checked at the boarding gate and again on the plane.
We pulled out of the gate 30 minutes late and headed out to the runway where we sat for an hour. The plane began to pull back into the gate. I was thinking, “This is it, we are not going back to Shanghai.” The first announcement was that we had to refuel and the second was that there was a technical issue. Finally, after 2 extra hours, we pulled out of the gate.
We arrived in Shanghai at 7:34 pm and were asked to remain on the plane. They called passengers off by seat number in Mandarin (good thing I had been practicing my numbers). Brad was called in a group ahead of mine. As we exited the plane our temperatures were taken again and we were asked to wait on the jetway. We were greeted there by men and women in full hazmat suits. Each small group was walked to tables where we showed our health declaration and answered health and travel history questions. We moved on to another station where they took our temperature again. After that, we were permitted to go through to immigration. EVERYONE was in a full hazmat suit with head and face cover. After immigration, we picked up our bags and headed outside to a table for the district in which we live, stopping to scan a QR code and fill in a few questions with the help of some very friendly, nearly bilingual volunteers.
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| Pudong Airport, Shanghai |
At the Huangpu district table, they confirmed our address and took our passports (cannot say I was thrilled about this). We waited for two hours here for others from this district and then we boarded a charter bus, with a police escort to take us to a Coronavirus testing center. We arrived at the testing center at 1:00am. Our testing site was a hotel, about two blocks from our apartment. Again, we were greeted by several people in full hazmat gear, including the police outside to make sure we did not leave. We were each given our own room, strict instructions that we could not leave the room and that testing would start around 9 am.
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| Testing Center Room |
The room was clean with two single beds, both with a clean bottom sheet. No pillow. No towels. There was a kettle, two bottles of water and hand soap (I later found out that not all rooms had soap.) We were told we could order food and they would deliver to our room. We took advantage of this the next day for lunch.
At 9:43 am on Friday, March 27 someone came by to swab my nose and throat. She let me know that results could take 10-24 hours. I made good use of my time by doing some yoga (I had my mat and all my luggage), finishing a book, showering and catching up with friends that were already back in Shanghai. At 8:20 pm I got a phone call congratulating me that my test was negative and that they would be taking us home at 8:45 pm.
Brad came by my room, picked me up and we headed downstairs. We gave our names and I asked for our passports. They said we would get them at our home. We boarded the bus with about 20 other people and began our journey home. We were so disappointed when the bus turned right, the opposite direction of our apartment. I figured we were in for a free, full evening tour of the Huangpu district. However, after dropping off one other person, we were the second to be dropped at our home.
Again, we were meet by two people in full hazmat suits. We had to go into the guard’s hut and sign paperwork regarding the specifics our quarantine, including that if we left our apartment at any time in the 14 days, they may take us to a hotel quarantine. Our temperature was taken and recorded. We have a contact that we have to send the reading of our thermometer to daily. Someone comes daily to take out our trash and they help us accept deliveries.
Finally, we were given our passports back and escorted to our apartment. The gentleman that came with us upstairs, sprayed down everything we touched, including the floor mats with disinfectant. He watched us go into the apartment and sprayed down the door behind us.
At 9:42 pm on Friday, March 27 and we were finally home! This was without a doubt the longest trip back to Shanghai from the US we have ever experienced. After being gone over two months, we were extremely happy to be in our apartment.
Thanks to other colleagues that came home before us and shared their experiences, we felt really prepared in terms of what to bring with us and also about the amount of time this process would take. Additionally, Brad’s school set up a chat with a local Mandarin speaker to support us through the process. While we didn’t need this too much, it was a comfort to know someone was there, ready to assist.
So glad to be home. So thankful to those that got us here safely.
Love,
Heather
