Travelers streamed into China by air, land and sea, many eager for long-awaited reunions, as Beijing opened borders that have been all but shut since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. | Reuters
“I’m so happy, so happy, so excited. I haven’t seen my parents for many years,” said Hong Kong resident Teresa Chow as she and dozens of other travellers prepared to cross into mainland China from Hong Kong’s Lok Ma Chau checkpoint.
The border opening follows Saturday’s start of “chun yun”, the 40-day period of Lunar New Year travel, which before the pandemic was the world’s largest annual migration, as people returned to their hometowns or took holidays with family. Travel will not quickly return to pre-pandemic levels due to such factors as a dearth of international flights, analysts say.China on Sunday resumed issuing passports and travel visas for mainland residents, and ordinary visas and residence permits for foreigners. Beijing has quotas on the number of people who can travel between Hong Kong and China each day.
“It’s so good to see them in person! They are much more handsome and taller than I expected,” said a 19-year-old who gave her name as Xiny, after chasing the seven-member group, who arrived in Beijing from Seoul.China downgraded its COVID management to Category B from A, which had allowed local authorities to quarantine patients and their close contacts and lock down regions.
Chinese officials and state media defended the handling of the outbreak, playing down the severity of the surge and denouncing foreign travel requirements on Chinese residents.
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