Background

Starting in mid-February, the COVID-19 situation in the Seattle area kept getting worse. On top of that, the responses from the federal government, the state government, and the CDC were really unsatisfactory. So in early March, I finally made up my mind to have my mother-in-law take my daughter back to Shanghai with her.

Choosing Flights

Choosing a Route

Under normal circumstances, the nonstop SEA-PVG flight back to China takes only 11 hours, but during this special period, the only options were flights with 1-2 connections. I focused on one-stop itineraries. There were 4 routes in total, connecting through Korea, Japan, Taiwan, or Hong Kong.

  • Korea: In February, Korea had already issued rules requiring a Korean visa even for transit, so I ruled it out first. (Currently, the official answer from Korea is: if your point of origin is not Mainland China, you have not been to Hubei in the past 14 days, and your passport was not issued in Hubei, you may transit visa-free in Korea but may not enter Korea.)
  • Japan: At the time, for whatever reason, I just did not want to book Japan, and luckily I did not. A couple of days later, Japan issued new rules and stopped allowing Chinese nationals to transit. (Currently, Japan’s policy is that transit is allowed, but you cannot enter Japan without a Japan visa issued overseas. So do not book flights that require changing airports, and do not book itineraries that require staying overnight at an airport that does not allow overnight stays.)
  • Taiwan: Whether because of EVA Air or the fact that the layover was only 3 hours, it all seemed quite ideal. But at the time, there were reports online saying Taiwan was not allowing Mainland Chinese passengers to transit. Although there was no official statement, with the situation changing by the minute, I still thought it was better not to take the risk.
  • Hong Kong: The chance of Hong Kong suddenly causing issues seemed a bit lower.

For the latest transit information for each region under COVID-19, see:

If your family members do not speak the language, it is best to choose flights operated by Chinese carriers and reduce connections in places like the United States or the Middle East. If you can choose the connection point, my ranking would still be nonstop > Hong Kong > Japan/Korea > Taiwan > the Middle East.

Redeeming Miles

The Hong Kong transit option was a Cathay Pacific/Cathay Dragon SEA-HKG-PVG itinerary. To be honest, it was far from ideal. First, it was a red-eye flight departing after midnight. Second, SEA-HKG alone took 15 hours, and the layover was as long as 9 hours. The whole trip was 26.5 hours total. Fortunately, when I checked on the evening of March 3, the two nearest departures, March 8 and March 15, both still showed business-class award availability.

Business class was 70,000 miles per person, so after finding availability, I immediately registered for an Asia Miles account and transferred 140,000 points from AMEX. The points did not post instantly. Online guides said it would take 1-2 days, but luckily, when I checked the next morning, they had posted. Unfortunately, after logging back into Asia Miles, I found that the March 8 award ticket had disappeared. When I logged into Cathay Pacific, the ticket status showed wait list. Given the timing, I decided not to take the risk and booked business class for the 13th directly, for a total cost of 140,000 MR + HKD 1772.

By the way, the cash price for business class on the 8th was $5,000+ at the time, the cash price on the 13th was $3K6, and the price on the 21st was $4,000+.

Experience Report

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport SEA

The ground staff for Cathay Pacific and EVA Air were all wearing masks and gloves. The passengers waiting to check in (the vast majority were Asian) were also mostly wearing masks, so it felt fairly reassuring. Cathay Pacific’s ground staff also gave them a form to fill out during the trip and submit after arriving in Hong Kong. It mainly asked about personal information, transit destination, health condition, whether they had been to areas with severe outbreaks, and so on. Each person needed one form; my daughter (3 years old) also had to fill one out.

On the way to the security checkpoint, they noticed that staff from other airlines basically were not wearing masks, and passengers other than Asians basically were not wearing masks either. There were very few people at security, and customs and security staff were also not wearing masks.

(Everything below was dictated by my mother-in-law and then organized by me, so there may be some confusion or inaccuracies. Please forgive me.)

Seattle-Hong Kong SEA-HKG

First, the crew members, except for the pilots, were all wearing masks. Also, all the passengers within my mother-in-law’s line of sight were wearing masks as well. Honestly, I thought it was lucky that I had booked a flight on an Asian airline. Everyone was paying more attention to this. If it had been a U.S. airline, it definitely would not have been like this.

Second, business class was full, so there was basically no extra service. I had booked their seats toward the back of the middle section of business class. After boarding, by the time dinner service reached them, it was already quite late. My daughter was a bit hungry, so my mother-in-law asked the flight attendant for something like a small bread roll to tide her over, but was refused. Between the two meals, when they wanted to ask for something else to eat, they were also told there was none. Fortunately, I had prepared some snacks in advance; otherwise, being hungry in business class would have been pretty awkward.

Hong Kong Airport HKG

After arriving at Hong Kong Airport, they only had their forehead temperature checked, with no other inspection. The form given by Cathay Pacific ground staff was not collected either.

The lounge was very empty. There was basically no one on the second level. My daughter was lucky enough to eat, sleep, and then eat again, while my mother-in-law worked hard taking care of her the whole way.

At check-in, Cathay Dragon ground staff also gave them a form to fill out, saying Shanghai would collect it.

Hong Kong-Shanghai HKG-PVG

There does not seem to be much to say...

Shanghai Airport PVG

Here comes the main event. After arriving at Shanghai Airport, everyone stayed on the plane while the crew notified passengers batch by batch, based on the departure point of their initial flight, to get off the plane for screening.

Seattle was in the third batch. After they were called, my mother-in-law took my daughter and followed the other passengers from the same flight. First they waited in a corridor with a door, which was closed; presumably they were waiting for the previous batch of people to leave before entering. They probably went through several similar corridors, but my mother-in-law could not remember clearly.

After arriving at the inspection area, each group was assigned to a different table with dedicated staff in charge. They took temperatures, collected forms (the one given by Cathay Dragon ground staff), and also asked them to fill out another Health Information Declaration Form. My mother-in-law used Alipay to fill out her own form and WeChat to fill out my daughter’s. Before departure, we had already filled out the entry declaration form in the customs mini program inside WeChat. My mother-in-law had planned to show them the saved screenshot of the QR code, but they said the form had been updated, so it had to be filled out again.

As an aside, after getting off the plane, all airport staff were wearing protective suits—not just masks.

Only after passing this “health check” did they proceed to customs. During this “health check” process, a yellow label was attached to the back of my mother-in-law’s passport. She only noticed it after leaving the table, so she did not have a chance to ask why. I suspect it was because she departed from Seattle; after all, the United States was one of the 8 countries whose arrivals were required to self-isolate for 14 days after entering China.

After passing customs and collecting luggage, my mother-in-law was guided along the way to dedicated escort buses for each administrative district of Shanghai. Private cars were also allowed to pick people up, but the person picking them up also had to self-isolate for 14 days. If it was a family member already living together, that would be one thing, but my mother-in-law had originally asked a friend to help pick them up. After learning from the neighborhood committee the day before that the person would need to quarantine, she did not have the friend come. My mother-in-law said the routes inside the airport had all been divided lane by lane, with police and staff stationed every few steps. Everyone was wearing protective suits. They would ask to see your passport and then tell you where to go, so there was absolutely no chance for you to wander around on your own.

They finally found the bus for their district, with about 15 or 16 people total on board. Then each household was dropped off one by one at the entrance to its residential complex. My mother-in-law and daughter happened to be the third drop-off. Watching the first two stops, she saw that each time they arrived, a whole line of people in protective suits was already waiting at the gate. When it was finally their turn, she realized that lineup included the neighborhood committee director, a police officer, and a doctor. After the bus arrived, the committee director contacted my father-in-law and asked him to come out and help with the luggage, since my mother-in-law’s phone had run out of battery. My father-in-law came out in a rush without a mask at first and was immediately sent back to put one on before coming out again. The doctor then checked forehead temperature as usual. My mother-in-law said it was funny because at first she didn’t even recognize the neighborhood committee director—everyone was in protective suits and their faces were hard to make out, so she only recognized the person by voice.

Once they were inside the home, the committee director roughly explained the 14-day home quarantine rules and probably also had them sign a home quarantine commitment form. First, they had to report their temperature twice a day. Second, designated people could help buy groceries and receive deliveries. Finally, they did not need to sort their trash; they only needed to leave it outside the door every morning. The staff provided one roll of large trash bags and one bottle of disinfectant. The required procedure was to spray the inside of the large trash bag with disinfectant, spray the outside of the smaller personal trash bag, place the smaller bag inside the larger bag, tie it up, and then spray the outside of the large bag again. A magnetic strip was placed on the front door, and if the door was opened, the neighborhood committee would be notified.

By this point, more than 32 hours had passed since the SEA flight took off.

Final Thoughts

The whole trip was extremely difficult, with checkpoint after checkpoint. But fortunately they were flying on a Hong Kong airline, and most of the fellow passengers were also Chinese, so everyone was very careful about protection. That meant the infection risk during the journey ended up being lower than I had originally feared. They then spent more than 3 hours at Shanghai Pudong Airport completing all the procedures. It was exhausting, but it also clearly added an extra layer of safety. The fact that so many staff members wore full protective suits throughout was also no small effort. The neighborhood committee’s follow-up was handled down to the individual level: collecting flight information in advance, waiting at the entrance of the residential complex ahead of arrival, and providing support services during quarantine. All of this was deeply striking to me. China’s ability to bring the virus under control really came from the seriousness, caution, sacrifice, and effort of the entire country and society.

Today is the 4th day of their home quarantine. I hope everything stays well, and I also hope the whole world can defeat COVID-19 as soon as possible and return to normal life.