Stories From Shunyi’s Pop Up Nucleic Acid Testing Centers

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Where to turn when you need the latest information on COVID-19 testing centers? If none of the options outlined in our sister site the Beijinger work for you, it’s to WeChat groups you go! That was especially true starting on Christmas day last week, when many Shunyi residents, workers, and school staff were instructed to get tested because of their proximity to the new cases.

It was in one of these Shunyi-specific groups where I learned that Beijing United Family Hospital (BJU) extended their hours from 8am-12pm until 4pm daily, including the weekends. I called to make an appointment, got in line with my Health Kit, registered on their app while in line, paid my fees, and got my throat swab. That was around 3.30pm on Sunday and my results were in overnight, including in my Health Kit.

It wasn’t a fancy testing site, but it was efficient.

Now, I had just gotten a test as a precaution and to see if BJU would be a good place for my kids to get it before they return to school, but for many Shunyi residents, it was compulsory for either their place of work, or residence, or both. BJU clearly has their system mastered, with all nurses or staff helping us every step of the day. When my Health Kit wouldn’t allow me to log in again, they quickly swept me into an office to complete a short questionnaire. When I had a few questions about the paperwork along the way, I was answered promptly.

So how did these popup testing sites work for Shunyi families? Once people found the right location, it went pretty well.

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The Shunyi community leaped into action, finding their way to various popup testing centers. They were not without some bumps in the road; however, thanks to folks in “Safe & Sane in Beijing” groups and “Shunyi Questions Answers & Info,” lots of the troublesome parts were solved by group efforts. We asked some residents about their experiences and how it went for their family’s testing.

Kim, Aaron, and Lachlan C (age 5), live in the Shunyi neighborhood of Tianzhu. Their family was one of the many who rushed to get tested so the parent/teachers and students could return to school next week. They all received a throat swab at the location called P6, a parking lot across from the Shunyi Bus Station. “It was open to the public and the information was shared by my school as well as in community WeChat groups for foreigners,” Kim related to beijingkids. “We waited in line for about one hour. They had bilingual assistants (foreigners) from the local community there to assist. It was super easy.”

Another Shunyi family who wished to remain anonymous brought their 15 and 17-year-olds for testing, again due to the school and Bureau of Education’s requirements, but their first location kept them in line for over an hour. A Chinese friend had found that testing spot through their management office, but their experience was less than ideal, said the family’s mom. “It wasn’t anyone’s fault. But they only had one machine to register foreigners, and so it just slowed the whole process, and knowing that we were going to then have to line up in a much longer line to actually get tested was frustrating… I kept searching while we were waiting as I was frustrated by the long wait and saw that someone posted the International School of Beijing (ISB) location, and we ran over there. From that point, I did everything myself. I speak Chinese, which made it easy, but there were some English speakers around.”

The second location, across the street from ISB, went much faster for our second family.

A third family with children under the age of eight were required by their compound in Shunyi to get a test, and the mom recalls that with younger kids: “the testing itself wasn’t bad but it was still a tad uncomfortable for the kids. They said, “It hurt my throat.” It was better than a nasal swab – that’s for sure! There were tears when they had the nasal swab test done in Thailand; this one felt so much better than that.”

Both families expected their results to come in 24-48 hours, but Kim’s arrived via text message within eight hours and one of the third family’s members had their results fairly soon after, but are still waiting for the other three. They all warn that the locations where they tested now seem to be closed, it’s best to check your local WeChat groups to learn the latest spots for testing, as it’s all moving quite quickly.

According to the Beijing Municipal Government’s press conference yesterday (Dec 28), as of 3pm that day, 1.2 million tests had been administered and over 900,000 results returned, with no new infections discovered.

To join the Shunyi Questions, Answers & info group, please add WeChat ID: pj_weichat and tell them beijingkids sent you!

For more general information on Beijing, join the Safe & Sane in Beijing groups by adding WeChat ID: mwinchina and ask to be added into the Safe & Sane group.

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Photos: Cindy Marie Jenkins, Shunyi families

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