Travelers arrived in China yesterday by air, land and sea, eager to finally see their loved ones, after Beijing opened borders that had been almost closed since the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic.
After three years, mainland China opened sea and land crossings with Hong Kong and lifted the requirement that all travelers go into quarantine, thus ending the last backbone of the zero-tolerance policy on Covid that protected China's 1,4 billion people from the virus, but it simultaneously cut them off from the rest of the world.
Long queues formed at Hong Kong airport for flights to the mainland cities of Beijing, Tianjin and Xiamen. According to the media in Hong Kong, thousands of people traveled to mainland China yesterday.
"I am so happy, happy and excited. I haven't seen my parents for years," said Hong Kong resident Teresa Chow.
"My parents are not in good health, and I was not able to visit them even when they were diagnosed with cancer, so now I am overjoyed that I will finally see them," she said.
At Beijing International Airport, families and friends hugged each other after planes from Hong Kong, Warsaw and Frankfurt landed. Such meetings were impossible only a day before, according to Reuters.
"I have been waiting for the opening for so long. We are finally connected to the world. I am delighted. I can't believe this is happening," a business woman who arrived from Hong Kong told the British agency.
Among others waiting at the airport was a group of girls with cameras hoping to photograph the band Tempest, the first group from South Korea to enter China in three years.
"It's great to see them live. They are much more handsome and taller than I expected," said a 19-year-old woman who introduced herself as Sini.
Investors hope the opening of borders will revive the $17 trillion economy, which is currently experiencing its slowest growth in half a century. However, the abrupt end to the zero-tolerance policy caused a wave of infection that overwhelmed hospitals and disrupted business.
The opening of borders came as "Chun Jun" began on Saturday, the 40-day period of the Lunar New Year, during which before the pandemic the world's largest annual migration took place, as people returned to their hometowns or traveled to spend the holidays with families.
About two billion trips are expected this season, almost double compared to last year, according to Reuters. A large number of Chinese are expected to start traveling abroad, a long-awaited change for tourist spots like Thailand and Indonesia. However, several governments - concerned about the spread of Covid-XNUMX in China - have imposed restrictions on travelers from that country. Travel will not quickly return to pre-pandemic levels due to, among other things, the reduced number of international flights, analysts told Reuters.
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