HONG KONG (CNN) – Thousands of travelers crossed mainland China’s borders on Sunday for joyful reunions and long-awaited trips, as authorities eased restrictions that had both separated families and isolated the world’s most populous country for nearly three years.
At international airports in China’s major cities, families were waiting at the exit gates for returnees for the first time since the pandemic began – a marked change from long-standing Covid protocols, where all arrivals were processed by workers dressed in hazmat and placed in mandatory hotel quarantine for days or weeks.
A Beijing resident named Yu took her young son to the capital’s Beijing International Airport to await the arrival of her husband, who was returning home from work in Spain for the first time in almost a year.
“(Earlier) we could not have picked him up here today because he would have needed to be quarantined before returning home. We’re happy to see him today,” Yu said just before her husband walked out of the arrivals to hug their son.
In Hong Kong, where most border checkpoints with mainland China have been closed since the pandemic began, residents waited to welcome loved ones at the previously closed Lok Ma Chau train station as the mainland also eased its border controls with the city.
“I’ve been waiting for this for so long,” said newlywed Felicia Feng in Hong Kong, who hadn’t seen her husband since their mainland wedding a few months earlier.
“This is his first time in Hong Kong… I have a full list of foods and places we want to visit,” she said, adding that although her hometown in mainland China is not far from Hong Kong, she has one She was also limited in how often she could return to see her family during the pandemic.
“It brings a lot of difficulties for my life, but everything seems to be getting better now,” she said.
The Hong Kong government spoke of up to 60,000 people a day were allowed to cross the border between the city and mainland China both ways, and on Sunday tens of thousands did just that, she added.
Passengers are seen in the arrivals area for international flights at Capital International Airport in Beijing, China, Jan. 8, 2023.
Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images
Three years of relaxation
The easing of China’s tight border controls both with Hong Kong and internationally is a far-reaching move for the country as it swiftly unwinds years of draconian Covid-19 restrictions.
For nearly three years, strict border controls had sealed off China from the rest of the world, straining families and businesses with ties to the mainland, Hong Kong, Macau and abroad.
As other countries lifted Covid travel restrictions last year, entering China remained a severe and expensive ordeal for overseas Chinese citizens hoping to return home and other travelers who were eligible to enter the country , which required quarantine, multiple Covid tests and a scramble for limited seats on flights.
Beijing announced late last month that it would drop quarantine requirements for overseas arrivals and ease restrictions that limited international flight capacity from Jan. 8 authorities confirmed Thursday plans to reopen the border with Hong Kong on on the same day. Beijing has yet to give foreign tourists the green light for international travel to China, and inbound travelers must present a negative Covid test result obtained within 48 hours of departure.
But the policy change both streamlines the immigration process for eligible travelers and means authorities will begin processing Chinese citizens’ passport applications for tourism outside of China, which had been limited to preventing leisure travel.
The rule change, announced late last month, drew a lot of interest in China, with bookings for outbound travel during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, which began on 21 data from Chinese travel platform Trip.com Group.
“A lot of people are very keen to take their family for a nice holiday after three years of lockdown,” Trip.com Group CEO Jane Sun told CNN on Monday, noting the upcoming week-long furlough as another rider.
Meanwhile, China’s travel industry is gearing up for the expected travel recovery, the Sun said.
“We expect that airlines and hotels will need some time in the first quarter to two (of 2023) to re-hire staff and build infrastructure. Hopefully in the second half of this year the infrastructure will be back to normal,” she said.
Travelers wait for their luggage in the baggage claim area of Shanghai Pudong International Airport as China lifts quarantine requirements for international arrivals on January 8, 2023 in Shanghai, China.
VCG/Visual China Group/VCG/Getty Images
Restrictions by other countries
However, some travelers are required to take a Covid test before leaving China to comply with rules set by other countries. A number of countries have introduced Covid testing requirements for travelers from China, citing a lack of data on strains circulating in the country amid the ongoing, rampant Covid-19 outbreak.
Another Beijing resident, surnamed He, on Sunday expressed relief at the ease of travel as he prepared to take his family to Macau for a holiday ahead of the Lunar New Year.
It has been much easier to find tickets and prepare travel documents compared to last summer when he also left China, He said.
“It’s faster now. You can just buy a ticket, renew (your travel permit) and go… and then start your own life the same day you land,” he said.
But others, like Hong Kong resident Anthony Chan, who traveled to the mainland to attend a cousin’s wedding, lamented the lost time when it came to seeing loved ones and being able to live life as usual.
The 18-year-old said he hasn’t been able to see his extended family across the border for about three years due to other restrictions on daily life imposed by the pandemic controls.
“Politics has damaged our lives (again and again) in recent years… it’s not (that) we’re scared of this Covid. We are afraid of this policy,” he said.
Jadyn Sham, Kathleen Magramo and Cheng Cheng contributed coverage.