China has reopened its borders to international visitors for the first time since imposing travel restrictions in March 2020.
Incoming travelers will no longer need to be quarantined – marking a significant shift in the country’s Covid policy as it grapples with a surge in cases.
They will still need proof of a negative PCR test within 48 hours of travel.
The move has been welcomed by many wishing to be reunited with family.
In Hong Kong, 400,000 people are expected to travel to mainland China in the coming weeks, with long queues for flights to cities including Beijing and Xiamen.
On Sunday, double-decker coaches packed with passengers arrived at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge to catch buses to Guangdong province – including college students returning home.
One man told JEE News he hadn’t seen his extended family in three years and couldn’t contain his excitement as he bought a ticket back to the mainland.
One woman told JEE News that she had not seen her parents for years – despite one of them suffering from colon cancer – and said she was “very happy.”
The reopening of the country comes at the start of “Chunyon,” the first round of Lunar New Year travel. Before the pandemic, it was the world’s largest annual migration of people returning home to spend time with family.
Two billion trips are expected to be made this Lunar New Year, double the number of trips made last year.
Li Hua, who traveled to China from the UK – where her family lives – for the festival said it had been “too long” for her to return, “I’m very happy to be back, and the breath of Chinese air. I’m taking it. I’m very happy, very happy.”
Mark Clayton returned to his home in Zhuhai, Guangdong with his wife and child after visiting Hong Kong. He told JEE News his journey home was “almost as smooth as it was before Covid”.
“We didn’t even show them the PCR, we just scanned a code and put in a very quick customs declaration… and then straight away,” he said.
