TO THE UK AND BACK AGAIN

Your Comprehensive Guide for Traveling Home and Back to China.

By Mike Pennington

Christmas and New Year’s Eve have passed and the desire to see our loved ones is probably stronger than ever. In November 2021, Michael Pennington did what precious few of us have done since COVID-19: go home and then return to China. It was a lengthy and costly process and Pennington has exclusively shared his comprehensive guide for travel out of and back into China with That’s.

It’s important to note that Pennington is fully vaccinated with China’s Sinopharm vaccine and holds both a work visa and residence permit. These two key criteria enabled him to “easily” return to China. Please note that if you are vaccinated with a non-Chinese vaccine and or do not have a work visa or residence permit, these processes and procedures would not apply.

Planning and Booking the Trip Before you do anything, your work visa and residence permit should have a few months remaining, you may need to extend your trip due to unforeseen circumstances (testing positive for COVID-19, for example).

As soon as I was fully vaccinated with Sinopharm in April 2021, I started to look at flights. There are plenty of options for flying from China to the UK. By contrast, there are not so many options for a return flight. Be careful when booking your return flight, some airports cannot accommodate the COVID-19 testing requirements needed for passengers flying to China, more on that later.

When it comes to buying your ticket, my advice would be to book a return flight (China-UK-China) with the same airline. One-way flight tickets start from more than RMB25,000. Make sure to book your return flight to China as one ticket. I booked with Scandinavian Airlines to London Heathrow via Copenhagen, and returned from Manchester via Copenhagen. My flight was RMB18,000 and I booked it around two months in advance.

Note that airlines will occasionally have their flights suspended for a period of a few weeks if there are too many positive COVID-19 cases found when testing after arrival in China.

Before Leaving China If you are vaccinated with a Chinese vaccine from the Chinese mainland, you are considered non-vaccinated by the UK government and therefore need a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test 48 hours before your flight.

I did my PCR test at Jiahui Hospital, Shanghai for RMB220. There are cheaper options available, but you need to make sure that they can issue a bi-lingual report.

All those considered non-vaccinated are required to book a PCR test on day two and day eight after arriving in the UK. When you purchase these tests, you will be given a unique code which is needed for the passenger locator form (PLF). I printed the completed PLF and my negative PCR test report and showed it at the checkin desk when leaving China. This was the only time either document was checked. When arriving in the UK you are required to self-isolate for 10 days and enter the address on the PLF. I landed in London and was planning to isolate at my mother’s house in Yorkshire. I decided to stay at my brother’s house near London for the first night and travel the next day, which was within the rules.

During your ten days in isolation, you need to do a test on day two and day eight. It’s possible to shorten the self-isolation period to five days by doing a testto-release test on day five. However, you still need to do the day eight test.

My advice is to use a less expensive home testing service for the day two and day eight tests. If you want to do a day five test-to-release test, pay more for an in person or in clinic test with same-day or next-morning results. There is no point in doing the testto-release if you have to wait several days for the results.

If you shop around, the total cost for the three tests would be around GBP170, or GBP70 if you don’t opt for test-to-release.

It’s also worth noting that, before departing China, you must complete the Customs Pocket Declaration form which on WeChat.

These are all the documents I printed before departing China: • Vaccination certificate • Negative COVID-19 test within two days prior to flight • PLF (includes details of day-2 and day-8 tests)

Arriving In the UK After landing at London Heathrow, it was business as usual. No one checked my PLF. I was out of the airport in around 20 minutes. I could have gone straight to the pub (I didn’t).

When it comes to self-isolating, I have heard stories of people getting an in-person visit to ensure you’re following the rules. No one visited me. I had calls on day one and day two which I missed. I had a call on day three which I answered. I received two text messages reminding me to self-isolate and to get tested on day two and day eight.

Your Time in the UK My biggest concern during my time in the UK was catching COVID-19. So long as you don’t catch COVID-19, there is a clear, tried and tested route to go back to the UK and return to China. If you catch COVID-19, that means additional testing requirements and an extended stay in the UK because you need 90 days of negative tests before you can get approval to fly to China. Be sure to keep up to date with extended testing requirements prior to returning to China. I remained cautious during my time in the UK by staying away from crowded places and avoiding public transport where possible.

Before Leaving the UK This is where things get interesting.

Your return to China needs approval by the Chinese Embassy in the country from which you are flying. You can do this by applying for a Health Declaration Code (HDC). All necessary documents can be uploaded online. Once everything has been reviewed and approved, you will get a green code. You need to show this green code (plus hard copies of all the necessary documents) to the flight check-in desk when departing the UK. flight you need to complete a Personal Health Monitoring Form and take your temperature every day.

This is a complete list of all the documents I uploaded when applying for the Health Declaration Code: • Passport • Residence permit and visa • Flight itinerary • Vaccination commitment letter • Sinopharm/Sinovac vaccination certificate • Travel history declara-

The Chinese Embassy in the UK requires anyone planning to fly to China to get tested seven days and two days before your flight. You are required to do your seven-day-prior test in a different facility from where you do the two-day-prior test. In addition to the usual PCR test (nose and throat swabs), the two-day-prior test also includes a blood test to check for antibodies. Seven days prior to your tion form • Seven-day-prior-to-flight negative COVID-19 test • Two-day-prior-to-flight negative COVID-19 antibody test • Two-day-prior-to-flight negative COVID-19 nucleic acid test • Personal health monitoring form

You can submit everything using your phone or your laptop. Once you have uploaded and submitted everything, you will get an orange code. Within a few hours, assuming everything is in order, you will get a green code.

If there are any problems with your documents, you will get a red code. Usually, there will be a brief explanation as to why you have the red code. In most instances it’s a missed document, so once you have figured out what was missed, you can re-submit. If you have been waiting for your green code for a long time or can’t figure out why your code is red, there is a phone number you can call. This process is stressful and getting the green code is a massive relief. Once you have the green code (issued from the Chinese Embassy or consulate in the UK), you can check-in as normal and fly to the transit country (in my case Denmark).

Testing in Transit Annoyingly, you are required to get tested again in transit and submit all documents, plus the negative test report from the transit airport to the same website and get a new green code from the transit country.

This is why it’s critical that you transit via a country that has the testing facilities in the airport to meet the requirements for flying to China. You also need to check with the airline that the transit time is enough to allow for testing and for the results to come back.

I arrived in Copenhagen at 12.45pm and straight away headed to the testing area. I didn’t need to book my test ahead of time. However, some transit airports do require pre-booking. There were only a few people in the queue and the whole process took around 30 minutes, but

if there are more people, it can take longer.

The cost of testing at Copenhagen airport is GBP440. I joked with the staff that they are printing money and they said, “We don’t need to print money, we have you.” My flight to Shanghai was at 6.50pm and the results were handed out by the gate at around 5pm. Once you have the negative test result, you need to take a picture of that document, and upload it to the same website for applying for the green code in the UK. I re-submitted all the documents that I had submitted the day before in the UK, plus: • UK boarding pass • UK green code • Transit airport negative COVID-19 test

Fortunately, the website saves all your information, so you just need to upload the images. It was a much shorter wait for the green code in transit – about 30 minutes. Everything is well coordinated between the airline and the testing company. The airline will help if you are having problems with the green code. Similarly, as in the UK, if you have been waiting for your green code for a long time or can’t figure out why your code is red, there is a number for the local Embassy you can call.

Once you have the green code, you should complete the Customs Pocket Declaration (the same one you completed when leaving China) and then show the two QR codes to the staff at the gate. You are now approved to fly to China… and relax.

Arriving Back in China When you land the first thing you need to do is to show the Customs Pocket Declaration QR code at an e-gate. Next, you need to show your passport and register for another PCR test. There have been lots of reports of the test at Shanghai Pudong airport being like a frontal lobotomy, but the test I had in Copenhagen was worse. Finally, you head to the passport control desks where the procedures are mostly the same as before COVID-19.

Once you have your bags, you head out of the airport and register for your quarantine hotel. I live in Shanghai which means isolating for fourteen days in a hotel, followed by seven days at home. The rules are different if your final destination is outside Shanghai. Again, scan a QR code and submit your details. Make sure to take a screenshot of the code that is generated after you have completed the form and go to the desk assigned to the district you live in. Since my home is in Qingpu, I followed the signs for Qingpu.

Once you are called to the desk, they will take your passport, enter your details on a laptop and wait for the local community where you live “to accept your return”. You can then choose a quarantine hotel in the district you live in.

I chose the Mercure because, although it’s more expensive, the rooms are bigger. There were eight people from my flight heading to Qingpu. We had to wait for everyone’s registration to be completed before leaving the airport on the same bus. Landing and leaving Shanghai Pudong airport took just under four hours.

When you arrive at the hotel (through the back entrance), you will pay for the room (RMB480 for 14 nights in my case) and are given a bag with some documents and your key card. There’s a WeChat group that they use for sharing important information during your stay.

From the moment you land to the moment you get to your room, everyone is fully suited in PPE and hazmat suits. You will be tested on day four, day seven, day fourteen, day sixteen and day twenty-one. Your China health code will be red for the first fourteen days. It will turn orange on day fifteen and green on day twenty-two. We checked our own temperature every morning and afternoon and submitted the result to the WeChat group.

Of the RMB480 room cost, RMB100 is for three meals per day which are delivered to the room at 8am, noon and 5pm. They are placed outside the door on a plastic tray, like clockwork. The food wasn’t bad as it was standard Chinese canteen fare. The hotel had an additional food menu so guests could pay extra for ‘made-to-order’ meals. I didn’t try them but there were a lot of expat favorites such as dumplings, fried rice, hongshao pork and fried noodles, ranging from RMB28-48 per dish.

As far as I know, no quarantine hotels in Shanghai allow you to order meals from outside, unless you are given a special dispensation for dietary or religious reasons. Most (possibly all) quarantine hotels allow grocery deliveries and ‘care packages’ with different hotels having different rules about what can be delivered. Generally, items such as fruit, snacks, instant noodles, and similar such items are fine.

There seems to be a blanket rule about no alcohol, although I got lucky as my hotel allowed beer deliveries. Many people also bring a lot of groceries with them from the UK and items such as electric cookers or kettles. There are also quarantine WeChat groups where information is shared about what to pack.

I would encourage anyone who is thinking about making this trip to do plenty of research into the cost and process, but not to feel like it’s impossible. As long as you meet the criteria to return (fully vaccinated with a Chinese vaccine and have a current work visa and residence permit), there is a very clear, tried and tested route to fly to the UK and return to China. My trip home was costly and stressful, but absolutely worth it.

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LOOKING AFTER YOUR TICKER

It’s time to talk about cardiovascular disease.

Interview by James East

The new year has just begun and some of us are working hard to stick to our New Year's resolutions. Some are already struggling to stay or get back on the horse while the rest have just given up all together. Whatever stage you’re at, something that you might not have thought about when planning your resolutions is your ticker. It’s time we spoke about cardiovascular disease.

Dr. Meng Wei is Chief of Cardiology and Chief of Internal Medicine at Jiahui International Hospital. He has been studying medicine for over 40 years and specializes in coronary heart disease. During Dr. Meng Wei’s career, he has studied in both the United States and Germany and in 2017 he was awarded the outstanding contribution award for cardiovascular diseases by the Chinese Medical Association.

What are some simple changes our readers can make to stay away from cardiovascular disease and lead a healthy life? It’s important to make some simple lifestyle changes, like quitting smoking, eating more fruits, vegetables, foods with a lot of fiber and staying way from foods that have a lot of sugar. Also, if you’re overweight you should look at trying to slim down. Regardless of your weight you should try and do some simple exercise everyday. What is really important, and what a lot of people don’t realize, is that depression increases your chance of getting cardiovascular disease. How can depression affect cardiovascular disease? Psychosocial factors may contribute to the early development of atherosclerosis (clogging of the arteries) as well acute precipitation of myocardial infarction (MI, commonly known as a heart attack) and sudden cardiac death. The link between psychologic stress and atherosclerosis may be direct, via damage of the endothelium. It may also be indirect, via aggravation of traditional risk factors such as smoking, hypertension, and lipid metabolism. Depression, anger, stress and other factors can all be related to cardiovascular disease.

Just how bad is alcohol and smoking when it comes to cardiovascular disease? Cigarette smoking is an important and reversible risk factor for coronary heart disease. The incidence of a heart attack is increased sixfold in women and threefold in men who smoke at least 20 cigarettes per day compared with subjects who never smoke.

Conversely, the risk of recurrent obstruction of the blood supply, in a study of smokers who had a heart attack, fell by 50 percent within one year of stopping smoking and normalized to that of nonsmokers within two years. The benefits of giving up smoking are endless and it doesn’t matter how long or how much the patient has previously smoked.

As for alcohol, it can be enjoyed in moderation, but if you drink too much then you should take measures to limit the amount you drink.

How else can I improve my diet? The most important thing to know is that diets containing foods with a high glycemic index or glycemic load may contribute to the risk of coronary heart disease. A high intake of red meat has been associated to high risks of cardiovascular disease. Consumption of trans fatty acids, or foods that contain them, relate to adverse cardiovascular outcomes.

What are some common risk factors of cardiovascular disease? Smoking is a main risk factor that many people know of, but also hypertension, commonly known as high blood pressure, is a very common risk factor of cardiovascular disease. If there is a history of cardiovascular disease in your family, you may be at risk too. If you have three of these risk factors, or any of the ones we mentioned before, you should have an annual health evaluation.

What are some early symptoms of cardiovascular disease and what should I do if I have them? Many people with coronary artery disease don’t show any symptoms and that’s why an annual check is important. For those who do, the most common symptoms usually occur during exercise. They can include pain, pressure, or discomfort in the center of the chest. Symptoms like pain, tingling, or discomfort can occur in other parts of the upper body like the arms, back, neck, jaw, or stomach. Another sign can be shortness of breath. If you have any symptoms or any concerns, please arrange to see a cardiologist.

Tests to check for coronary artery disease are usually the same in women and men and are quite simple. We would do blood tests to check cholesterol levels and an ECG to measure the electrical activity in your heart. On top of that, you may do a stress test, where the doctor evaluates heart blood supply during exercise. Another important test is a coronary CTA which can accurately display the condition of the coronary artery. Finally, a cardiac catheterization is the gold standard for the diagnosis of coronary artery disease. This is always performed before interventional treatment.