Like many people, I saw the video of the woman making her way through the airport processes and was feeling pretty good. Now I am wondering just who she was having relations with that allowed her to go through "in about an hour." Because that certainly didn't happen with our flight. All told, we were in the airport for more than three hours. While the testing, the paperwork, etc., was all efficiently done, the waiting was what took the time.
We got in to the airport a bit after 7 a.m. this morning (Thursday). We exited the plane and made our way through the empty airport to a large waiting area. It was surreal, creepy in a way. The airport was completely empty besides us, which is just so strange. We waited in the seats and every once in a while a person in a hazmat suit would come up and tell a group to get up, sending us through the first machines, which took our passports and one of our health QR codes. We then made our way through a machine that took our temperatures and moments later I realized I forgot my suitcase and had to backtrack to get it.
Next it was down an escalator to the testing area, where we were given our COVID tests, both throat and nose. It went pretty quickly and then we moved down an elevator where we waited in line to go through Chinese customs. It was here that I realized that my vaccine card was no longer in my possession. Luckily I had a picture of it in case I needed it... More on that later.
I got through customs and from there it was on to have our accreditations validated, which was a quick process and from there, we all had to sit in another large group of chairs. And there we waited. And waited. And waited, for them to call the "cluster" where our hotel was located. I also noticed a woman in a hazmat suit holding an American vaccination card, so I went over and sure enough, it was mine, so I got it back. That was the good news.
Finally, when all was said and done, my group was the last to go down another escalator and all our luggage was spread about another room. Once I found it, I was told to make my way to the corresponding bus that went with our hotel. We got on the bus and sat there for about 20 minutes before the bus moved. And when we did move, we had a U-turn in the middle of a city street and a couple of wrong turns, but eventually we got to all the hotels.
And the Chinese are taking the closed loop incredibly seriously. Our hotel driveway has two different gates on it that both have to be opened before the bus can come in or go out. And there are guards opening and closing the doors.
I hadn't been in my room long when the front desk called and said that my airport COVID test had come back negative, which meant I was able to go out of the hotel. So that I did. I got on the bus and ventured to the Main Media Center, where I found out where things were located (the general store had lots of empty shelves), had a bite to eat that came from a robot and picked up my ticket to the opening ceremonies and my press kit, which was quite nice.
Being as I was beat, I came back to the hotel with the idea that I'd write this blog and possibly get some sleep, only to find out that I can't access any of the web sites I need to do my job from my room. Once that was explained to me, they pointed out the coffee bar area in the lobby where the Beijing 2022 wifi is located, which allows us access to social media and things like this blog. Not exactly convenient, but truth be told, I don't plan on spending tons of time in my room the next few weeks anyway.
The good news is that the trip to and from the media center is about 15 minutes. That is manageable and buses leave regularly. The only thing I am hoping for now is that the high speed train is reliable. If not, I could be in some serious trouble.
So day one is done. Now we wait and see what day two has in store.
This is the hallway outside the main press workroom at the Main Media Center.
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