covid-19

Journey Back to China: Testing, Quarantine Hotels, and More Testing. Oh My!

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This summer I was very fortunate to be able to visit family back home for a whole month AND more importantly, successfully returned back to China. Going home this summer was definitely a risk considering the strict border policies that China has kept in place. Considering I hadn’t been home since March 2020, I weighed the risks and went for it! I had a great month back home spending time with family, having days of doing nothing in the crisp Colorado air, seeing my goddaughter baptized, spending 4th of July in Wyoming, and so much more. But in the back of my mind was always the stress of completing the journey back to China. The travel policies and regulations of China have been the strictest in the world starting at the end of March 2020 when they completely shut down the border to all non-citizens. In the past 2 years they have “loosened” them somewhat with lots of caveats of qualifying visas allowed, testing procedures/policies to be approved for entry, and variations of quarantine after arriving. No tourists have been allowed into China since March of 2020.

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Shanghai Lockdown 2022: I Survived

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Appropriate photo for the time-a cross stitch I did while locked in my apartment

This global historical event seems like it was in another lifetime, when it only “ended” a few months ago. Living through an entire city being locked down (and I mean locked down) was a wild experience that I feel like I can talk about now that it’s over (mostly). Mid-March during a staff meeting on a Friday, everyone’s phone started pinging with the news that all schools in Shanghai would close and move online starting the next week. No one could imagine the following few months…

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Shanghai, Covid-19 and Returning to “Normal.”

/ kailaolson / 1 Comment
Checking into my quarantine hotel.

After returning to Shanghai at the end of March (a week before the borders closed to foreigners), I spent two weeks in a hotel being quarantined. Truth be told it wasn’t that bad and I felt lucky to have had the privilege of mandatory quarantine given the state of the world right now. Life has slowly transitioned back to a new “normal” in Shanghai with the opening of Kindergartens at the beginning of June. Other grades had resumed prior and they slowly phased in lower grades. So what does life in Shanghai look like now? When I look at the rest of the world, I know I’m one of the lucky ones who has returned to work and able to go out and about.

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