November 4th, 2022

Day 4

Today is my flight back to China. I am not excited at all, partly because I am about to endure 7 days of quarantine when I am there. My flight leaves on 13:00, that’s why my second PCR appointment was done by 13:30, so it’s within 24 hours of my flight. Since my hotel is an hour away from Incheon International Airport, I decided to go early and skip breakfast, because I know flight to China will have more stringent pre-boarding requirements than normal flights.

Checking out at Hotel PJ is very easy. You just need to hand your room keys back to the front desk, and then you’re set. I really thought that it would take longer, but it didn’t. I called a taxi, and the taxi driver, through Google Translate, told me to call for an airport shuttle next time, and handed me a card.

Now, if I put that information out here, it would be advertisement, and I do not like ads. But, if you want to, call +82 10-8800-0488 for Hong Sang Soo, and they will send you a large car for you if you have a lot of luggages like I do. The driver was very nice to me as he parked at the airport parking lot and helped me move all my stuff to the platform, so hence the ad here. It’s funny though, both the driver that drove me from the airport and the driver that drove me to the airport shook my hand when we arrived. I guess a trip to or from the airport is very expensive and that’s why. But it was only around 60000 KRW, which is only $42.

Since my flight is with Korean Air, I went to the closest Korean Air ticketing station. I put all my information into the kiosk, and by the end, it asked me to physically be at the ticketing station for the workers to see “visa related issues”. I pushed my cart over there, and the lady got confused. After I told her my destination is China, she told me to go to Aisle 7, which is specifically left there for flights to China.

I pushed my cart over there, and there are around 20 people who were waiting at an empty ticketing station. I arrived by 9, which is four hours before the flight departure time. I waited on my butt for an hour before people started showing up, but about 30 minutes before that, people just started lining up.

When I started lining up, I was already at the end of the line because I was the only one “smart” enough to not stand in line when no worker is there by the end. While I was standing there, a worker comes and checks if I have all the documents ready. Apparently I don’t, because you need to have another app ready.

It is a customs mini app that you need to get on the app WeChat. Since I am Chinese and use WeChat regularly, it wasn’t much of a problem for me. You need to scan the code using WeChat, and it will open a mini-program for you to fill in the form. After you put in all the information, it will open a one-time QR-code that has a yellow background.

If you do not use WeChat at all though, this might seem complicated. Just download the app, register an account, and start there. But, if you’re flying into China, I doubt you don’t already have WeChat installed.

There was a lot of people on the same boat with me, and most of them are a bit old and could not do anything. An old guy that has a Korean passport but speaks Chinese asked for my help. At first I just explained what he needed to do, but he asks me to do his form for him. I really didn’t want to do that, but he spoke with an accent from my home town, so I helped him anyways.

After I helped him, a couple more older people started coming to me and asked for my help. They did not ask me to fill in their forms, so that was a relief, but I still did the best I can. I think I helped 5-6 people that day, and because of that, I was the last to reach the ticketing station.

I got my ticket, checked all my luggages, and the worker asked me to pay for excess baggage, which is my guitar. She said the price is $50 (70,000 KRW), and I was totally fine with that. She took my ticket away, and told me that I can get a new ticket once I pay that fee. I had to walk all across the entire boarding hall to get to the place where I can pay this fee.

Since I helped a lot of people, I only have one hour left after security check. Normally for us who transfer through Korea, our terminal is terminal 1, which is much bigger and has a lot of restaurants. This time though, it was terminal 2. I did not know there was a difference, so I went in there looking for food. After walked all the way to the east end of the terminal, there was only one proper restaurant, which serves Korean noodles and dumplings, you know, the one I had the day before with Kihyun. I didn’t want to have the same thing again, so I walked all the way to the west end of the terminal, and there were 0 restaurants.

I only have 20 minutes left, so I rushed to the east end of the airport again and just got the noodles. It was not as good as the restaurant me and Kihyun went to yesterday, but getting the noodles was the smartest decision I made that day. Turns out, there is no in-flight service at all, which means there’s no food at all. You also do not get any food until you reach your quarantine hotel. If I did not get lunch that day, I would have ate nothing from 7 in the morning to 5 in the afternoon. So yes, stuff yourself before your flight’s departure. I sent Kihyun a picture of what I had to eat for lunch that day, we had a good laugh.

Asiana airlines wouldn’t let me carry my guitar on board, but Korean Air does. After I took my guitar up on there, the stewardess offered to put my guitar in business class’s coat closet after I asked. They are really nice about it, that’s one over Asiana.

However, one thing I hate about Korean Air is with their safety video. Normally airlines have specially made air safety videos that show their specialness and creativity, but they stop at just showing airplane stuff. Korean Air, on the other hand, had the boyband BTS record their air safety video for them. I guess this is fine and surprising for the fangirls of BTS, but for a plane full of people over the age of 40 (I am the youngest one), the cabin was silent. I really do not like anything that has to do with Korean boybands, and that video ran for 10 minutes (I guess they already paid for BTS, might as well make it long enough). I think the stewardess saw me rolling my eyes at the video. Lol.

After our plane landed, we were told to stay on our seats. About 20 minutes later, people that’s armed from head to toe for Covid came on board and hands us number signs that has our names on there. Mine was handed out by a stewardess. I guess for American passengers, it had to be specially made.

The airport is extremely dusty, it must have been left uncleaned for over three years, probably since the day that Covid hit. It is sad to see my town’s airport looking like this. I almost didn’t want to put my bags on the floor.

We lined up right at the terminal to get tested for Covid. It took a while, and once you get there, they really, really jab it into your throat. They don’t do nose swabs in China, but it still made me cough. If I didn’t know better, I though the person doing it had a personal grudge against me.

Once we get tested, foreigners need to fill out an immigration card. Finish that and stand in any of the lines. An immigration officer saw my American passport, and told me to line up in a separate line. He is extremely friendly all throughout my time stuck at border inspection. However, I still spent over an hour stuck at the inspection. There is one more American before me, and we two were the only two left at the airport for over 30 minutes. Before Covid, this process only takes 5 minutes tops, but that day it took us more than one hour.

At one point, both of our passports were taken into a backroom, as the immigration officers asked us questions regarding our stay. The other American asked if it is a China-US thing with the recent animosity between the two countries, but the officer said it’s not. Well, we all know what it is. Still, he is extremely friendly and didn’t make us feel uncomfortable at all.

After an extended stay that wore me down completely, our passports were handed back to us and we went to exit the airport. We were directed to get on a bus that’s full of people. Turns out they were waiting for us. You don’t get to pick your quarantine hotel, and you will not know where you’re going until you arrive.

Dalian International Airport is extremely familiar to me and my family, since this is the only airport in town for us and we have been going there for more than 30 years. Heck, I’ve driven to and from the airport myself. The bus actually drives on the route that takes me home. I kept updating my position to my family, and after I confirmed it is on the route to my home, I started real-time location sharing with my Dad, who started following the bus by car. After a while, he caught up to me, and we saw each other’s face for the first time in three years, albeit through the bus’s window.

The quarantine hotel is actually located within 500 meters of where I live. The hotel is very deep away from the gate, and no one is allowed in. My parents stood by the gate for a while and we waved at each other, and they left. We put all our luggages in one area, and they started spraying stuff on them. Since I was the last in line, it took me another 30 minutes to finally get into the hotel lobby and get checked in.

My hotel is called 大连仲夏花园酒店, Dalian Zhongxia Garden Hotel. It is an extremely ancient and archaic hotel. It was built in the 1990s, which means it is 10 years older than me. I am guessing no remodeling work has been done at all since the hotel opened to public. There is only one place to plug in my phone and nowhere to plug in anything else. I mean, I had to live in a dorm room back when I was in high school in Maple Leaf, and the living condition is about the same. Both are extremely old and smelly. This hotel would’ve gone out of business if Covid did not hit.

I told my friend Kihyun to come to China before her quarter resumes. If she has to stay in this kind of mess, I would never forgive myself.

The rates for the hotel is ¥450 ($62) a night for a regular room, and ¥550 ($76) for a bigger room with a balcony. I am not exactly strapped for cash, so I chose the bigger room. Food is included, and you cannot order food from outside at all.

When I got to my room, I immediately wanted to check out the balcony because I thought it would give me a good breathing room for the 7 days I am about to stay there. However, the balcony door was chained, and only allows for a small opening for the air to come in. Wow. But, I am nothing but resilient, so yeah, I’ll survive.

Final words: The food they provide is too little, especially for lunch. I had to order one additional lunch box just to not starve to death until dinner comes.

Price for one more lunch box is ¥40 ($5.52), and for one more dinner is ¥30 (4.14). It might seem cheap for an American with no prior living experience in China, but this is very expensive for something of this quality. But, since you cannot get any food from outside, this is your only source of food. Take it or leave it, and if you leave it, you die of starvation.

But hey, that’s just me, I eat a lot during lunch time. Breakfast and Dinner are all fine though.