CNY travel forecast: COVID test, quarantine & 170 billion trips

‘Can we leave Beijing for Chinese New Year?’ may seem like a million kuai question right now. As local cases crop up, constant-shifting (and sometimes confusing) restriction about where we can and can't set foot in has meant that domestic travel for the forthcoming Spring Festival is going to be less straightforward.

Bad news, it's still a bit touch-and-go at the moment, with the new cluster infections recorded in Daxing and even a new strain of more contagious virus seen in some cases. But good news, it’s not all unlikely, as long as you follow through the measures below. Here we've clustered everything we know so far about travelling in and out of the capital for CNY.

Do I need to get tested before?

As sporadic cases have sprung up in more cities, a negative nucleic acid test result within the last seven days has generally been advised for domestic travellers no matter where their destination is. While supposedly not mandatory for anyone travelling from (and to) low-risk areas at present, it is mandatory for those who plan to cross provincial borders to visit rural regions, as well as visitors from medium and high-risk areas, and certain frontline workers who deal with great risks of exposure to the virus such as imported cold chain product handlers and quarantine facility staffers, according to an official statement from National Health Commission (NHC) today. 

The said measure, which is sure to complicate chunyun for what makes up a major bulk of the country's annual human migration, has triggered backlash online since announced by the NHC yesterday at a press conference, who originally stipulated that all travellers must have a negative test within the last seven days, regardless of their origin or destination. After stirring a great deal of stress and confusion, officials have later responded that the measure extends to those returning to rural areas as well as other frontline workers.

Nonetheless, netizens on Weibo have raised questions about how practical it is to obtain a COVID test result in the lead-up to CNY as testing demand is set to surge, and the move, which says to help curb infections in certain rural villages, feels like another 'one-size-fit-all solution'.

Do I have to quarantine on entry and arrival?

Generally, no if you're travelling from (and to) low-risk areas (hopefully most of us), and have avoided visiting a rural region from another province, according to NHC. For locals who wish to return to rural households, a 14-day health monitoring is instituted, in addition to the aforementioned negative test result on arrival. However, regulations are subject to change for specific cities so we recommend checking back the rules for your destination before planning. To find out more about your city, scan the QR code below for a handy tool by Chinese map app AutoNavi:

How many health codes to scan?

A unified health code system with a universal QR code is supposed to be in place for the Spring Festival to facilitate interprovincial travel, according to a recent state media report. Hopefully, this will bring some ease for domestic holidaymakers with fewer scans to make and queues to be stuck in.

170 million on the move

At last, around 1.7 billion trips are said to be made during the annual chunyun, according to Chinese Transport Ministry. State media reported that the estimation, which fell 40 percent compared to 2019, is still upped by 10 percent than 2020 (still expect some level of movement of human that is). 

Though as non-essential travel is discouraged, a lot of us will probably rethinking packing bags any time soon. The bright side? We don't think it's any worse to put off all the unnecessary human contact and maybe finally, hunker down with some more quality time right now. Looking to stay in the city for CNY? Here's why it's totally fine and probably for the better.

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