China has lifted its travel ban, allowing foreigners back into the country for the first time since March 2020.
As the country battles off a Covid outbreak, it has removed the need for traveler quarantine.
A negative PCR test within 48 hours after departure is still required.
Many people are happy about the relocation since they can finally be closer to their extended families.
In the following weeks, 400,000 Hong Kong visitors are expected to visit Beijing and Xiamen.
Sunday, double-decker buses transporting students from Guangdong flooded the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge.
One man told the BBC he was thrilled to return to China after five years.
A woman said she was “delighted” to see her parents after years, despite one having colon cancer.
With the reopening of the country, “chun yun,” the first time of travel after the Lunar New Year, can begin. Before the pandemic, this annual movement was the world’s largest.
At least two billion journeys, double last year’s total, are expected for the Lunar New Year.
Li Hua, who made the trip from the United Kingdom to China (where her family resides) for the festival. how wonderful it was “too long,”. She added, “but I’m glad to be here and to breathe Chinese air once more. We are overjoyed beyond words “.
Mark Clayton and his family returned to Zhuhai, Guandong, from Hong Kong. His drive home, he told the BBC, was “almost as smooth as it used to be pre-Covid.”
“We didn’t even show them the PCR,” he said of the customs statement and code scan.
People’s Concerns About Covid:
However, other people are worried that if borders are opened, more people would be exposed to Covid-19.
Several local bus drivers operating on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge are scared. That they could get the sickness from inbound visitors, according to the BBC.
For the past three years, China has enforced one of the world’s strongest Covid health laws. Which has led to widespread lockdowns and mandatory testing, and had a major impact on the country’s economy.
After nationwide demonstrations sparked by the deaths of 10 people in a high-rise fire in the Xinjiang province. The administration has reversed its stance on this issue. China’s authorities denied that the prohibition on Covid caused the disaster, despite public belief.
It has been reported that hospitals and crematoriums in China are at capacity since the country abandoned crucial portions of its Covid zero policy. However, China has stopped releasing its case data and recorded only two deaths on Saturday.
The Chinese government shut down more than a thousand social media accounts that day because of their negative coverage of the virus response.
The Chinese government is upset because many nations, notably the United Kingdom, have started requiring a negative COVID-19 test for anyone arriving from China due to the expected increase in cases and outbound travel.
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