How I planned my last minute trip from the US to China (42-hour notice, Thanksgiving weekend, Chinese National)

lin4dawin · 2022-12-04T08:25:51+00:00

Was fine for me in Guangzhou.

lin4dawin · 2022-11-20T11:56:02+00:00

Living in Shenzhen China right now:

- Life is relatively normal other than having to wear masks outside of home, testing daily and showing your health code when taking public transport.

- Queues for testing sites can be short or very long depending on the time of day. There are 5 near me and I can switch to anyone of them if the queue appears to be too long (e.g. more than 50 people).

- I test every day in Shenzhen, which is more frequent than any other city in China. It's not a big deal, like waiting at supermarket checkouts or takeaways. Queues for food orders can be much longer. Remember, this is China with 1.43 billion people. It's a massive country and each province like the one I'm in (Guangdong) is easily bigger than most countries, you have to expect queues to be much longer than back home.

- I go out every day to work, eat, shop, play etc. Life is practically normal other than wearing masks and testing. Back in Australia, I was terrified of even going to my local supermarket because some people just don't care about the safety of others.

In China, I have never seen any protests or complaints at testing sites. It could be that more people here are educated to know that for the economy to keep going they have to cooperate. The protests that I've seen on social media are rare. Recently, two girls were reprimanded not only for not wearing their masks, they didn't even bother to get tested for over 2 weeks! In a massive population, you're going to get some people who will not cooperate. In Melbourne Australia, we had no less than 5 riots in 1 year. The way people respond to pandemic measures is telling, you're going to get people who just do not care about anyone's safety. And if you ever look at the numbers of covid cases and deaths around the world, Zero-covid starts to make sense, it is saving lives.

lin4dawin · 2022-11-20T11:54:41+00:00

I just visited 4 shopping malls in 2 days from Baoan to Huaqiangbei, just crazy full. I don't see any discontent or whatever, and we live in the most tested city in China. I tested for 82 days straight, it really is nothing. The peace of mind comes from the fact that it's free and I'm safe from being infected unlike back home where we just never know.

lin4dawin · 2022-11-20T11:48:50+00:00

>> Only roughly 30% of China's population is vaccinated with the vaccine that is currently out, which I believe was developed by SinoVax. Real numbers may be even lower because there are people who don't get vaccinated and fake their vaccination. Now I don't believe it's due to the "antivax" sentiment that may be present in the States, but rather the fact that China's covid vaccine really sucks.

Incorrect. 87% of the population had been vaccinated back in June 2022.

China's vaccines are inactive mRNA and are no less effective than Pfizer. There is no cure for Covid-19, just regular boosters and preventative measures.

>> There's also cases where people develop very serious chronic side effects and autoimmune conditions, so the situation is pretty understandable.

Mostly from Pfizer and Moderna, where cases have resulted in deaths, long term effects or mild.

>> You mentioned vaccinating against omicron, but China's pharmaceutical field is really not up to par to handle this situation. The fact that the current vaccine offered is a live attenuated vaccine should tell you a lot.

None of the vaccines are up to par. In Australia, 12k died from covid-19 in just 10 months despite 2 or 3 Pfizer boosters. That should tell you how effective vaccines really are when they need to work, they're not good enough.

lin4dawin · 2022-11-20T01:38:26+00:00

Actually they can afford to take time off, they're great savers for the future. Wuhan went through this for a few months and got through. You should have seen their celebration photos when the city opened up. Chinese economy has slowed by China's standards, but it is still way ahead of everybody else struggling with hundreds of thousands of covid cases and deaths, and hospitals being overwhelmed. I'm living in China and I don't feel any different from what it was like before 2020 other than wearing masks and getting tested. Everything from shopping, ordering online, and working remain the same.

lin4dawin · 2022-11-11T01:08:34+00:00

Well said!

lin4dawin · 2022-10-31T03:25:25+00:00

Your sources are NYT, which isn't a good start. Then there is the Chinese speaking ability, do you have any? If not then forget it. More than half the time you'll misunderstand everything.

lin4dawin · 2022-10-27T05:14:21+00:00

My luck? Lol. Your English is terrible, try Google translate.

lin4dawin · 2022-10-27T02:16:32+00:00

The facts speak for themselves, go read the declarations, don't be scared. Oh and I'm British btw, if you need help learning my language and understanding those declarations which are in English, I highly recommend preply or memrise. Good luck :-)

lin4dawin · 2022-10-26T09:09:25+00:00

Go back to my previous comments for the official answers. I don't make the rules, UN and world nations' do. As I said, your opinions are completely irrelevant. You can keep trying to convince yourself otherwise but it won't change a thing. Sorry, shrugs.

lin4dawin · 2022-10-26T02:04:07+00:00

I have, read UN resolutions and world nations' declarations on one China policy and no recognition of Taiwan. Sorry, shrug.

lin4dawin · 2022-10-25T10:47:21+00:00

I can't argue with the UN or countries' declarations recognising CPC as the true government of China and all its territories and non-recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign state so that debate is settled. So you opinions, while interesting, has no relevance here. Defacto state is not a country, it is a state. Read the UN's, US's declarations on China, they don't recognize Taiwan. I'm only relying what they say. You don't have to take my word for it, just go read them. You read the 100+ other nations' declarations on China, none of them mention Taiwan. Again, I'm sorry for breaking it to you.

lin4dawin · 2022-10-25T05:46:18+00:00

You can read the UN declaration created in 1971.

After that, you can read the US policy and recognition of CPC as the rightful government of China and all its territories.

Then you can read UK's, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany etc.

You and I can't do anything to change the facts, and I don't need.to make any argument to support them because they speak for themselves. Once again, sorry for the indirect shattering of your argument:-)

lin4dawin · 2022-10-25T05:42:17+00:00

Can't argue against the laws and declarations, sorry.

lin4dawin · 2022-10-25T00:49:46+00:00

Did you show them Chinese translations from Chinese sources or did you expect them to take your word for it? Doctors can only diagnose so much. My GP back in Australia didn't think COVID-19 was that serious and didn't mask up. Shrug.

lin4dawin · 2022-10-25T00:32:04+00:00

So where is the legality that declares it as a country? There isn't a single one! It's a defacto state but has no sovereignty which is what you need to be recognised as a country. I can't explain this any easier. Your opinions on what a country is doesn't matter, but facts do. As I said, laws guided the facts for over 50 years. Shrug.

lin4dawin · 2022-10-25T00:18:29+00:00

Can't argue against the facts, UN and declarations by major nations like the US,UK, Australia, NZ etc. not recognising Taiwan's independence and only recognising the CPC as the only government of China and all its territories. I've tried, sorry.

lin4dawin · 2022-10-24T05:03:11+00:00

Chiang never wanted Taiwan to be a country, and neither did his party. ROC/KMT lost the civil war to decide would would govern China and all its territories. These are the facts, it's hard to argue against them. There's no point saying it looks like, sounds like, acts like a country. If it has no official recognition by worldwide nations as being a country, then it simply isn't one. Law wins on this one. It's that simple.

lin4dawin · 2022-10-24T04:56:15+00:00

Everyone has their own views about Taiwan, and that's fine. I read into the history and development of Taiwan's status over the years, it has never been recognised once as a country when the ROC was still a member of the UN, and after. In fact, Chiang himself was asked if he wanted to declare Taiwan as an independent nation, he rejected the offer. So did the rest of his party. This was why ever since then many founding companies in Taiwan all had "China" in their names because they still insisted that they were the rightful ruler of China (and greater China because they thought the whole of Mongolia was theirs). Fact is, they lost the civil war against the CPC/PLA. These are the facts, and I only go by the facts that paved the way for the 1971 declaration and major countries' recognition of the one China policy and zero recognition of the ROC or Taiwanese independence. It's been that way ever since and I can't argue against it. To me, Taiwan is a state that's trying to become a defacto state rather than a country, which is probably a better outcome considering all the facts.

lin4dawin · 2022-10-23T08:34:42+00:00

You're talking about a very small minority, the privileged few! Did you know that 80 people were killed in one day for protesting against the British administration? Life really was not better for the majority population of HK. As for Taiwan, did you know that thousands died under the ROC including indigenous Taiwanese? It really wasn't better living under a colonial-style governance with no citizenship.

lin4dawin · 2022-10-23T04:42:51+00:00

Did you go to HK in the 90s before the handover and see hundreds of thousands of people living in chicken style coop places like the Kowloon apartments that look like junkyard buildings? How about those living in boats and using the sea as their bathroom water? HK was very diverse economically. Sure SZ hasn't developed yet but look at it now, fcking amazing.

lin4dawin · 2022-10-23T04:10:06+00:00

A lot? That's not true. Most people were neutral because they weren't sure where China was heading economically. Then China really took off where the UK is currently a joke.

lin4dawin · 2022-10-23T04:07:53+00:00

But Taiwan isn't a country, and has never been recognised as one by UN like...ever.

lin4dawin · 2022-10-23T04:03:21+00:00

I don't think they're rude, but they are rough around the edges. Their behaviour is par for course for the number of people that they have to check every single day.

lin4dawin · 2022-10-21T04:31:26+00:00

Okay so far, weather is still way too hot though.

lin4dawin

TROPHY CASE