Travel and Quarantine Between China and Taiwan During COVID-19
I just had a conversation with a man who travelled back and forth from China to Taiwan during the COVID-19 pandemic. A Taiwanese citizen, he works in China and travels home to his wife and kids often. He is the manager of one of our SleepPhones® supply factories, and we speak on a weekly basis. This past week, he spoke about his quarantine experience in China, which I found fascinating and worthy of recording. This is his story.
February 2020
Shortly after the Chinese New Year of 2020, he flew into China just as the entire country went into lockdown in February. Trapped in an apartment in Shenzhen with only CCTV (China Central Television, the Chinese government media) for “entertainment,” he had a pretty terrifying time. Most of the news was about the coronavirus, and he didn’t fully trust the media to tell the truth about what was going on around the country. He mostly ate ramen noodles and what he could easily cook for himself out of fear that meal deliveries would transmit the Virus. He had internet service so he could call family and friends, but he could not go anywhere during the lockdown.
March 2020
During March, the entire world was locking down to curb a surge in cases while the number of cases in China plummeted. The government changed their strategy to keeping the virus from coming back into China and mobilized for a carefully controlled reopening.
April 2020
He was allowed to cautiously return to work in April. Even as the government started to encourage people to return to work, many people were still afraid. Women stayed home with the kids because the schools had not yet re-opened in person. Workplaces were checked by officials to ensure they had enough soap, sanitizer, and masks. Everyone’s temperatures were taken at various checkpoints throughout a day, such as at the exit of their apartment complex, at the entrance to the industrial park, at the door to their building, and at the floor of their factory. Anyone with a fever would be sent to a “fever clinic.” Internal logs for temperature, travel (day-to-day locations), and people interactions were required. Such an intrusion into privacy was interpreted by most people as reassuring. It meant that no one could get away with spreading the virus because they were not careful. The government made sure everyone was careful, so each individual felt more confident that everyone else was safe to be around.
May 2020
Toward the end of April, the government and factories pushed business re-opening but were often short workers due to fear and virtual schooling (which took many women out of the workforce). Workers from villages decided to stay home rather than travel back to a big city with tight apartments for work. It took until mid-May for schools and everything else to fully reopen. For our supply factory manager, he was finally able to get near-normal staffing levels at the end of May.
June-August 2020
When summer came and virus levels in Taiwan and China were pretty much close to zero, he spoke wistfully about traveling back to Taiwan. But the 14-day quarantines back and forth were too much for him after spending nearly 8 weeks in lockdown just a few months ago. We figured that the most logical time to make that journey would be in October for the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival. He spent the summer working in China and getting the factory back to a normal routine.
September 2020
In late September, he finally journeyed back to Taiwan to see his wife and kids. He boarded a flight in Shenzhen, transferred in Shanghai, and landed in Taoyuan, Taiwan. He noted that the airport was quite empty compared to usual. He filled out some forms, was asked some questions, and then his wife picked him up from the airport to take him home and leave him there. The two of them decided that rather than having him quarantine in a hotel, he would quarantine at home and his wife and kids would have fun at a hotel. His wife left him a honey-do list, so he spent two weeks putzing around the house. Quarantining in Taiwan consisted of someone calling him twice a day to ask if he’s had a fever and to make sure he was okay and still at home. He felt that it was a bit too easy to lie about everything. There are reports of people leaving their self-quarantine in Taiwan, which annoyed him. It seemed that while he enjoyed the trust from the Taiwanese government to do the right thing, he didn’t like the relative ease of disobedience. (It’s clear that he has the right personality for running a factory!)
October 2020
After a few weeks of quality family time, he journeyed back to China in late October. He took a flight from Taoyuan to Shanghai. The airport in Taiwan was still pretty empty, but Shanghai seemed to be quite busy. The flight itself was not too nerve wracking. If there were three seats in a row, they would have to leave the seat in the middle empty. Everyone kept their masks on, and some people even wore rainsuits with a hood and gloves as personal protective equipment. Everyone was cautious, even though risk was extremely low for travelers leaving Taiwan, since the number of cases are minuscule there.
Once he landed in Shanghai, the terror set in. It took extra time to off load from the plane in cohorts. There was a lot of waiting without a lot of information on what was happening. Inside of the airport, different flights from different countries started to mix. There are rumors that when Chinese travelers start to feel ill, they return to China for treatment. So he was terrified that people from the European flights were in line next to him. While everyone was masked, distancing was not achievable.
He described long lines for every possible procedure. Lines for checking temperatures, COVID-19 testing, disease risk stratification, immigration, customs, luggage, and bussing to the quarantine hotel. When you left one process, you were directed to another in another room. During each step, no one knew what the next step would be, and no one informed them. There was no clear signage for where they were being herded. And most remarkably, no one talked to each other to discuss the situation. From the time people left the plane to the quarantine hotel, the only time people spoke was with a procedure officer. No one dared to talk to each other. It’s not clear why there was no banter, but he felt very uneasy with the silence and not knowing what was next.
All incoming travelers to China have to quarantine for 14 days even if their airport COVID-19 quick test was negative. China has many hotels converted to quarantine facilities. His hotel was 480 yuan ($80 USD) a night, meals included. Some people tried to negotiate the pricing saying that they brought their own food, but it is a standard government rate that is non-negotiable.
Groups of people were assigned to busses that took them to their quarantine facilities. The groups did not match plane cohorts and instead mixed together different flights from different countries and various nationalities. There was no distancing on the buses. They had to sit two to a bench seat. It took some time to be let off the bus once they arrived at the hotel.
He was assigned to an 8th floor room with two beds. He said he put the beds together and had some fun rolling around on the joined beds. He has a TV for entertainment. The windows could only open a sliver. The towels, tissues, and toilet paper for all 15 days were all in the room upon arrival. There is no cleaning service for the duration. Outside each room is a chair. Food is delivered three times a day to the chair. He is allowed to open his door, peak his head out, and retrieve his food. He believes there are cameras watching the hallways, so no one ever congregates to socialize in the hallways while retrieving meals and putting out the dishes. Outside deliveries for food are not allowed.
When we spoke, he was on day two of his 14-day Shanghai quarantine. While he was used to isolation by now, this still felt scarier than everything prior. He said the 5 hour journey from when the plane landed to when he arrived at his hotel room felt like he was checking into prison. No one talked to each other. No one said what was going on. He was checked from station to station, assigned to a bus, and taken to a place he could not choose. His ID card was taken away at the hotel. He was sent to his room and not allowed to come out for two weeks. Even the meal service process feels like solitary confinement.
He did appreciate that the hotel seemed very new. It was clean and well-appointed. It has all modern amenities, and the meals were decent. China has set up quarantine facilities at all major travel hubs around the country. They have different prices per night, matching real estate pricing. I expect that Shanghai real estate is among the pricier options, but there aren’t many choices for travelers from Taiwan.
We speak again next week, and I’m looking forward to an update on his quarantine situation!
Update November 9: He was very sick of the food toward the end of quarantine, and he was quite bored. Nothing eventful happened. He has successfully completed quarantine and is back to work.
