Why They Wouldn’t Let Us into Our Apartment in Shenzhen

Hint: the answer contains “zero”

Because it was my fault.

Not Home

Shenzhen is the Silicon Valley of China. It is also right across the border from Hong Kong. What kind of border is it exactly? Well, the definition is a bit fuzzy. Regardless, the locational proximity plays a big part in answering the titular question.

Sanya is the Hawaii of China. The southernmost city in China may not be Bali, but the surrounding area does offer some waterfalls, though it’s unlikely that any of them rival Niagara. I personally found it not unpleasant to see evidence of reverse yellow fever on the beaches of Sanya.

Anyway, it was a relaxing way to end a week-long trip that started with Wuhan, where my wife and I attempted to visit, ahem, where it all started. No, apparently that wet market no longer exists. Why would it? Silly me for assuming it still did.

Waiting

Our flight was delayed. For a few minutes.

A few minutes became several minutes.

Several minutes turned into an hour.

At some point, we decided to have lunch, having put off the decision in the event that we suddenly got called for boarding.

We did not suddenly get called for boarding.

There was plenty of time to eat. There was, however, not plenty of time to rest. I had work the next day. Was it too ambitious of me to pack so much into one week? I do have a thing for efficiency, but I should’ve kept in mind that there was a pandemic going on.

My wife and I stayed at Sanya’s airport way longer than expected, and I got to notice things I wouldn’t have seen otherwise. After spending so much time in so many airports, they either all start to blend together or you start seeing the differences.

The delay lasted four hours. It was typhoon season.

Nearly Home

Once we landed in Shenzhen, we were exhausted. Another surprise awaited us: There was no covid test being conducted at the airport. We had heard rumors there would be booths set up to save travelers some time and effort… ostensibly. Covid tests in China are not exactly voluntary.

Sure, you don’t have to take a covid test every three days, every other day, or every day, but if you want to enter any public building…

Although the journey was not quite as grueling as my 50-plus-hour train ride in Russia (plus, it wasn’t as if they wouldn’t let us on the flight), by the time we got home, we just wanted to be home.

Except we weren’t home yet.

The security guard at the gate demanded to see our negative covid test results. We had them.

Except the test was taken in Sanya, for which we took a taxi halfway across the island the afternoon before our flight to get the test taken and the morning of our flight to retrieve the paper results. Not the best of vacation time.

Not Quite

The rule to enter the apartment building, which was part of the PreK-12 campus where I taught, was that after traveling into Shenzhen from elsewhere, a negative result within the past 24 hours taken in Shenzhen was required.

I went berserk.

There are certain advantages and disadvantages to being a Chinese American in China during a pandemic, especially when you speak and read the language, but I’m not sure under which category this specific instance falls.

The guard and I understood each other perfectly. I started raising my voice. He started raising his. He took a step closer to me. I dared him to take another. He did.

My wife came between us.

He was much taller but also much older.

Two other security guards came out from wherever they were hiding and surreptitiously suggested that it would be best if the original security guard made himself scant. I did not notice this at the time. My wife and I pieced it together afterward. I was too busy seeing red.

Because it was my fault.

Policy

An email had been sent to all staff stating the rule. For a reason I still have not pinpointed, I assumed taking a covid test outside of Shenzhen would be acceptable. Possible reasons include the obvious: simple misreading, a bit of forgetfulness, more than a dash of hopefulness.

The school doctor, who also lived in the apartment building, came down to smooth things over. Maybe ironing things out. My wife explained to her that she needed to take some medicine that was at home. The doctor was sympathetic but did not budge from the school’s official position. When you’re a school, whether public or international, the Education Bureau’s the boss.

I called the hospital where we usually took our covid test, but we were too late, so I ordered a taxi that took us across town to a covid test center that was still open.

Afterwards, we spent the night at a hotel. In the same city where we had an apartment. After calling several hotels to make sure they would accept two foreigners who could not present negative covid test results from Shenzhen.

This would become routine every time we left Shenzhen, which has some of the strictest covid rules in China as a result of the Middle Kingdom’s “dynamic” zero-covid policy and Hong Kong being right across the border.

Hong Kong’s covid rules are less strict. Thus, more international travelers come and go. Thus, more covid cases rear their heads.

The border between Shenzhen and Hong Kong is porous. There’s too much business to be done.

Until there are a few dozen cases, in which case lockdown ensues. Total lockdown wouldn’t happen for several more months, but when it did, we weren’t surprised.

Allow me to repeat: a few dozen cases, and entire cities shut down.

When the pandemic first started, traveling within China was easier than it is now.

With all the hoops to jump through, anyone’s desire to travel within China these days is probably pretty close to the name of the country’s covid policy.

But it’s still dynamic.

Dash Ip has not stayed in the same country for so long since he started his expat life.

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