Beijing ends almost three years of self-imposed isolation even as it battles a surge in Covid cases
\n Beijing
\nChina lifted quarantine requirements for inbound travellers on Sunday, ending almost three years of self-imposed isolation even as the country battles a surge in Covid cases.
\nThe first people to arrive expressed relief at not having to undergo the gruelling quarantines that were a fixture of life in zero-Covid China.
\nAnd in Hong Kong, where the border with mainland China was re-opened after years of closure, more than 400,000 people were set to travel north in the coming eight weeks.
\nBeijing last month began a dramatic dismantling of a hardline zero-Covid strategy that had enforced mandatory quarantines and punishing lockdowns.
\nThe policy had a huge impact on the world\u2019s second-biggest economy and generated resentment throughout society that led to nationwide protests just before it was eased.
\nAt Shanghai\u2019s Pudong International Airport, a woman surnamed Pang told AFP Sunday she was thrilled with the ease of travel. \u201cI think it\u2019s really good that the policy has changed now, it\u2019s really humane,\u201d she told AFP.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s a necessary step I think. Covid has become normalised now and after this hurdle everything will be smooth,\u201d she said.
\nChinese people rushed to plan trips abroad after officials last month announced that quarantine would be dropped, sending inquiries on popular travel websites soaring.
\nBut the expected surge in visitors has led more than a dozen countries to impose mandatory Covid tests on travellers from the world\u2019s most populous nation as it battles its worst-ever outbreak.
\nChina has called travel curbs imposed by other countries \u201cunacceptable\u201d, despite it continuing to largely block foreign tourists and international students from travelling to the country.
\nChina\u2019s Covid outbreak is forecast to worsen as it enters the Lunar New Year holiday this month, during which millions are expected to travel from hard-hit megacities to the countryside to visit vulnerable older relatives.
\nAnd Beijing has moved to curb criticism of its chaotic path out of zero-Covid, with its Twitter-like Weibo service saying it had recently banned 1,120 accounts for \u201coffences against experts and scholars\u201d.
\nAt Beijing airport Sunday, barriers that once kept international and domestic arrivals apart were gone, as were the \u201cbig whites\u201d — staff in hazmat suits long a fixture of life in zero-Covid China.
\nOne woman, there to greet a friend arriving from Hong Kong, said the first thing they\u2019d do was grab a meal.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s so great, we haven\u2019t seen each other in so long,\u201d Wu, 20, told AFP.
\n\u201cThey are studying over there, and we can meet each other directly in Beijing… It\u2019s been a year,\u201d she added.
\nAt Shanghai airport, one man surnamed Yang who was arriving from the United States said he had not been aware that the rules had changed.
\n\u201cI had no idea,\u201d he told AFP.
\n\u201cI\u2019d consider myself extremely lucky if I only need to do quarantine for two days, turned out I don\u2019t have to do quarantine at all, and no paperwork, we just walked out like that, exactly like in the past,\u201d he added.
\n\u201cI\u2019m quite happy not needing to be in quarantine,\u201d another woman being picked up by her boyfriend who declined to give her name told AFP.
\n\u201cWho wants to be in quarantine? Nobody.\u201d
\nIn China\u2019s southern semi-autonomous city of Hong Kong, visitors streamed across the border as travel restrictions with the Chinese mainland were eased.
\nHong Kong\u2019s recession-hit economy is desperate to reconnect with its biggest source of growth, and families are looking forward to reunions over the Lunar New Year.
\nOfficial data showed some 410,000 people in Hong Kong planned to travel north in the next two month, while some 7,000 people in the mainland planned to travel south on Sunday.
\nAt the Lok Ma Chau checkpoint near Shenzhen, a postgraduate student from mainland China surnamed Zeng told AFP they were happy to cross with no more restrictions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Beijing ends almost three years of self-imposed isolation even as it battles a surge in Covid cases Beijing China lifted quarantine requirements for inbound travellers on Sunday, ending almost three years of self-imposed isolation even as the country battles a surge in Covid cases. The first people to arrive expressed relief at not having to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":306304,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-306269","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n