US to China Roundtrip: Pre-Travel Planning

It had been over 3 years since the last time I saw my family in Chengdu, China. Video chat just wasn’t enough anymore. I tried to not miss them dearly, but as time went by, my anxiety and bitterness about the whole situation intensified as COVID was still rampant and China’s visa office was still tightly shut. In late August, when China finally updated their visa policies and allowed Q visas (family visa), I jumped on it and helped my husband to apply.

Visa

Before you apply, check which embassy/consulate serves your area of residence (in Chinese and English). Please note that the Houston consulate is temporarily closed and their service is replaced with the embassy in Washington DC.

We found the Q visa application details in the official notice on the Chinese Consulate’s website in New York (see the notice in Chinese and English). You should find the same notice in the Chinese embassy/consulate website that serves your area of residence.

We followed the steps and filled out the forms online and gathered all required documents. After weeks of emailing with the Chinese Consulate in New York and a snail mail at the end, he finally got his visa. The first step was done! We were given a deadline to fly to China per his visa's expiration date, that gave us a timeframe to work with when we started to look into flights.

Flights & Hotels

There were no direct flights from New York to Chengdu, and the COVID testing requirements and pre-travel documents seemed intimidating. I spent over 40 hours looking into flight tickets and a dozen long articles about all the regulations and travel restrictions. At the time of booking, we were required to have two negative tests from New York and then another two from the city we were transferring from, both within 48 and 24 hours. That meant we needed to stay in the transferring city for at least 3 nights. Luckily, this testing policy loosened shortly before our trip and China only required one negative test 48 hours before boarding on the plane to China. It saved us about $800 in testing fees. And technically we didn’t need to stay in Vancouver anymore but since all bookings were non-refundable we went ahead and made a side trip out of it. In the end, this was how our planned itinerary looked like:

1. ✈️ Flight from New York to Vancouver on Dec 10th, no visa needed for US citizens and permanent residents (JetBlue)

2. 🧪 COVID PCR Test booked for Dec 12th at 3pm in Vancouver (FastTest, 24-hour turnaround)

3. 🛏️ Hotel reservation for 4 nights in Vancouver, check in on Dec 10th, check out on Dec 14th. No need to quarantine in Vancouver, can tour this city a bit (Residence Inn by Marriott Vancouver Downtown)

4. ✈️ Flight from Vancouver to Chengdu on Dec 14th at 12:45pm (Sichuan Airlines) Tip: no hot meals or fresh fruits/veggies on the plane, may be a good idea to grab something at the airport before boarding

5. 😷 Arrive in Chengdu on Dec 15th, and be sent to a quarantine hotel for 5 days. No need to make a reservation for the hotel ahead of time because it is assigned at the Chengdu airport, and we can’t choose the hotel.*

6. 🏠 If everything goes smoothly, we can leave the quarantine hotel to go home on Dec 20th and continue to quarantine at home for 3 days till Dec 23rd. *

7. ✈️ Returning Flight from Chengdu to New York on Jan 27th, transferring via Hong Kong. No need to stay in Hong Kong, just a normal transfer. (Cathay Pacific)

Packing

Using my favorite super lightweight Samsonite suitcases, we checked two bags and brought two carry-ons. One of the checked bags was filled entirely with gifts for family. We also packed our laptops, valuables, and travel pillows in two handy travel backpacks with trolley sleeves (see his and mine). I kept my passport, wallet, and small essentials in a crossbody bag for easy access.

We planned to do laundry in Vancouver the day before we left for China, and made sure to have enough clean clothes for the quarantine. Chengdu’s winter can feel cold even though temperature-wise it almost never drops below freezing. So think long sleeves for layering, sweatshirts, sweaters and warm coats.

Tip: I packed a classic Swiss Army pocket knife in my checked bag, and it was very handy during my quarantine time to peel fruits, cut open bags, poke through sealed lids, etc.

Phones & VPNs

China blocks pretty much everything we use in our daily lives: Google, YouTube, Netflix, Zoom and other essential websites for work and communication. That being said, it was crucial for us to make sure our phones and computers would work normally like we were still in the US.

I have been using Google Fi since 2016; it’s a cellphone network that I highly recommend for US based international travelers. It worked smoothly when I was in Canada, Mexico, Japan, and China; and it actually works in as many as 260 countries in the world. All you need to do is just toggle on the international features in your Google Fi settings before you leave the US.

In order to access the internet for remote working and beyond, we got a total of 3 VPNs in case we needed backups. We chose Express VPN, NordVPN, and Astrill. We installed all of them on our devices before we flew into China. (Note: After arriving in Chengdu, only Astrill worked smoothly for us, and the other two did not work, so it was a good thing we got 3)

Thoughts

I never needed to plan this much for any trip. And Brian had never been away from New York for more than 3 and half weeks. As China was gradually opening up and COVID cases were surging everywhere, I did feel hesitant after everything was already booked. Even in Vancouver I had the thought of turning back to New York, but we decided to move forward.

I hope we will stay healthy and COVID won’t bother us. Fingers crossed.

*Update: As of Jan 8th 2023, there is no more mandatary quarantine time for oversea travelers.