… do you remember: I was spending a day in Frankfurt drinking Aperolspritz? So here is what happened next…
- Taking the S-Bahn back to the airport hotel
- Fetching a trolley (on regional train station below the hotel)
- Loading ALL (!) my luggage
- … which I needed to repack again in the hotel lobby after I checked out from my room at 2pm as 1 suitcase had 38!! kg – I think this was already a 3rd time I was repacking the suitcases (!) – I tell you, I was sweating a lot on this day – I am very grateful for the lady at the hotel who had the patience with me (I was not allowed to go to the room with the scale)
- heading to the drop-off, where I was hoping to get through with now “only a bit” overweight luggage – and I did – what a relief (otherwise I would need to repack AGAIN!)
- no business lounge. closed. “closes at 2pm already” – where are all the privileges of having a business ticket when you need them?
- as my phone with all the codes was dead I desperately needed to charge it…. and finally the 3rd socket WAS WORKING! (sweating again – I must say as – no code no boarding!)
- finally on my seat!
- I am grateful to be able to travel business, where you can stretch your body nearly flat…
- these last (for about 2 weeks) nights before departure were not too resting for me
- and this is a night flight starting at 10pm!
- the plane is quite full
- some passengers with head to toe protecting gear (overall, mask, glasses…)
- oh. did I mention I had a little problem? My screen was too far away for my reading glasses. So flying economy would be better – there you have it on your lap (nearly) 🙂
- no service before take off (!?!) – which is a nice treat in normal cases
- I saw that in the 1st class they did offer drinks before take off – if only I took the “special offer to upgrade from Business to 1st class for only 850 EUR”! 🙂
- dinner, 2 movies, some sleep, measuring the temperature by the crew, filling in the China Customs Entry Form (in paper)…
- enjoying the last “western” breakfast – with a glass of Champagne.
- Cheers to the new adventures!!
When I saw the land through the window, I became emotional. The new chapter of my life starts with the touch down. I hope it will be a good one!
Corona adjusted routine starts, and you are walking from first to last “station”:
- your customs code is checked (mine was valid few more minutes, so the kind lady helped me renew it: she looked a bit puzzled and nervous as I did not had it all in WeChat app like the China travellers do – but somehow she managed to renew it on her laptop – thanks god!)
- you receive a paper, where you sign, they are allowed to do a PCR test
- with that paper, you get a tube with your name
- down the stairs and off you walk to the testing center, where they take a sample from your nose and throat and put all 4 sticks to your tube. (each nostril gets 1 stick and 2 for the throat)
- temperature is measured
Then you head to the border control. And as very often: who heard of Slovenia? (we have a joke that from a Chinese point of view – we all live in 1 of the bigger skyscrapers – as we – Slovenian population – are so few compared to BIG cities of China!)
- and then I finally (4pm) get my suitcases – yes the heavy ones!
- now you go for the bus shuttle to the quarantine hotel:
- first you need to fill in a form online
- then your passport is taken (which will be returned in the hotel)
- you wait for others to be enough for a (half) full bus
- and then – off you go 🙂
Timeline: touch-down in Shanghai at 14:45 and at 5 pm I was sitting in the bus, the ride to the hotel took about 1 hour.
