CHINA
Country Overview:
“Love the food, hate the government”
I arrived in China in May 2013 and left August 2020. I taught English for awhile, did my master’s of politics & foreign policy at Tsinghua University, worked for a year at China Today, and then two years at Xinhua News Agency. I spent most of my time in Beijing, but also traveled to Shanghai, Wuhan, Inner Mongolia, Shenzhen, Panjin, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Qingdao, Xi’an, Sanya, Macau, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.
Banana Man // Sanya
My friends who live in Sanya both work for a photography company and they needed to test out their new gear. So I suggested I buy a banana costume and we go to a street market to take pics and film a music video — which is exactly what we did. My friend is working on editing the video, so that will be posted when it’s finished. Chinese people laughed when seeing me in costume and little kids kept shouting “BANANA!”
Pools And Beaches
Leaving Beijing was the best choice I made this year. I flew to Sanya, Hainan Province to hangout until my visa expires, but also found out that I get an automatic 2 month extension because of the virus. So if need be, I can stay here through the summer. I’m hoping to leave here and fly to another SE Asian country, but it all depends on when/if they open or resume visa services. Hanging out with no plans is nice but I do miss the feeling of having a schedule or something to work on or work towards. My life, like many people’s these days, is up in the air with no real idea of where it will go. COVID-19 has uprooted what resemblance of plans I had after I finished my contract at Xinhua and now I’m trying to make new ones.
At this point, the most I can do is wait until June 1 and see if countries relax their lockdown policies. If not, I’ll continue to stay in Sanya, get some sun, and go to the gym. Not bad for the time being but I’m looking forward to having “the next step” in place.
Last Dinner In Beijing
Headed to Sanya tomorrow morning for at least 2 weeks. Have to wait and see what countries open in June. Chinese visa expires June 10, so I’ve got about 3 weeks to hangout until I’m forced to leave.
Spicy wontons. Sichuan cold noodles. Sichuan potatoes shaped like French fried but not fried. Chinese croquettes with egg custard filling.
How Can China Remedy its Post-Coronavirus Reputation?
I wrote an article that surprisingly got published despite the “sensitive” content it covers
Still In Beijing
Despite a government notice only suspending visas for a period of 1 month from March 30, Cambodia has yet to resume visa services. As such, I’m stuck in Beijing until the foreseeable future. My apartment is empty, my bags are packed except for gym shorts, a tank top, and a few t-shirts, and I finished my job on May 1. I have nothing to do. My only course of action is to wait until June 1 and see if countries in SE Asia open up. I’m on day 88 of quarantine and without a day job, I am slowly losing my mind.
Gyms in Beijing are still closed. Awesome.
Travel Chess Game
With T-minus 19 days until my last working day at Xinhua, I’m working on sorting out my exit plan. Besides trying to figure out flights, when I asked my boss what documents I need to submit before I quit and for me to receive my social insurance money, he said, “It’s still too early.” Umm, ok?
Ultimately, the plan is to get to Singapore to be with my girlfriend. However, Singapore has suspended short-term travel passes (tourist visas) until further notice. The government has been adamant that they aren’t in a lockdown, but have implemented a “circuit breaker.” Hey Singapore, call it what you want to call it, but when you close off the borders, shut down bars, restaurants can only do take out, public gatherings are banned, people can’t go outside after a certain time, and the airport is closed, you’re in lockdown.
So as of now, Singapore is out of the question. Before shutting down, Singapore had closed itself off to people who had been in certain countries for the past two weeks (including China), so even when Singapore opens up, I think they’ll revert to that policy. As such, I need to get out of Beijing. The tricky thing is trying to only spend two weeks in a foreign country before heading to Singapore to avoid paying a ton for a hotel and living expenses. But without any notice on when Singapore will open, it’s a gamble. If I stay in Beijing in my already paid for apartment, and Singapore opens, I’ll have to fly out and do two weeks in a foreign country before I can enter. Or, on May 1, I can immediately fly to a foreign country, but I might end up having to spend more than two weeks there waiting for Singapore to open.
Options at the time of this writing are:
Thailand will resume flights on April 18, but I think they’ll still implement a COVID-19 test signed by a doctor and not issued more than 72 before my flight, plus proof of insurance of minimum $100,000 that also covers COVID-19. After calling several travel insurance companies, I discovered that COVID-19 wasn’t covered. Plus, I’m not sure I can just walk into a hospital in Beijing and get a COVID-19 test.
Cambodia has suspended all visas until April 30.
Hong Kong is open to people who have only been in Mainland China for the past two weeks, but many countries include HK as part of China, so even spending two weeks there wouldn’t help me out.
Malaysia just prolonged their lockdown for another two weeks.
Vietnam has suspended visas for foreigners until further notice.
Macau says that residents of Mainland China can visit. I have a Mainland China resident permit. I called immigration, and they said that they meant to say “citizens” and would not accept anyone that doesn’t have a Mainland China, HK, or Taiwan passport. Well, change the wording on the website then…
Indonesia is closed to foreigners until further notice
The Philippines is closed to anyone who has been in China for the past two weeks. Plus, I don’t want to get shot on the street by Duterte’s thugs if I accidentally break quarantine rules.
So at this point, much like the response to every other question I have these days, all I can do is “WAIT.”
HERE is the website I’ve been using to track border policies. Between trying to figure all this out, I still need to submit documents to Xinhua, deep clean my apartment so I can get my deposit back from landlord, breakdown my workout machine and find someone who wants it, plan a going-away party, buy a plane ticket, get a COVID-19 test, buy travel insurance, donate my remaining clothes, and all the other odds and ends that come with leaving a foreign country after seven years. And all this while Beijing is still in a semi-lockdown. I’m just looking forward to leaving China so I can go to the gym again.