After the end of the zero-Covid policy, China reopens to foreign countries.

According to the authorities, the almost three-year isolation ends this Sunday.

But it will take months for travel to return to normal.

Even the unchanged low number of international flights from China limits the number of travelers.

Out of concern about possible new virus variants as a result of the huge corona wave in the most populous country, Germany and many other countries require travelers to have a negative corona test before departure, which must not be older than 48 hours.

Despite the opening, no major wave of travel from China is expected.

The number of flights from China abroad is currently only around ten percent of the volume before the pandemic.

The tickets are very expensive.

Tourists also have to wait in line: the authorities now want to issue or extend passports again, but primarily only for business and study trips.

Conversely, China's embassies want to issue more visas again.

But here, too, business, work or study visits and family visits have priority.

According to state media, the number of international flights is only expected to at least double in the first half of 2023.

There is no quarantine requirement upon entry

Above all, the strict quarantine requirement when entering China falls on Sunday.

At times, travelers to China even had to spend three weeks in strict quarantine in a hotel room.

Most recently, five days plus three days of isolation at home were required.

China also continues to require a negative PCR test 48 hours before departure.

Those who test positive are not allowed to travel.

However, it is no longer necessary to apply for your own entry permit at the embassy, ​​but only to submit a health declaration.

The opening of the country comes a month after the abrupt reversal in the rigorous zero-Covid strategy that has been in place since early 2020, implemented with lockdowns for tens of millions, mass testing and forced quarantine.

After new omicron variants had nevertheless spread explosively and the second largest economy had increasingly suffered from the measures, China's government gave up its zero tolerance completely on December 7th.

The reason for the change of course was the milder course of the disease.

Authorities no longer publish infection numbers

Since then, a massive wave of infections has been rolling through China, hitting hospitals completely unprepared.

According to estimates by London-based data processor Airfinity, 2.5 million people are currently newly infected in China every day, while 16,600 die every day.

According to these estimates, there have already been 209,000 deaths.

According to the projections, the number of corona deaths could increase to 1.7 million by the end of April.

While China's health authorities are no longer releasing current figures, experts estimate that several hundred million Chinese may have been infected since early December.

With such a large outbreak, the emergence of new variants is also feared.

However, there is no evidence of this so far.

Nevertheless, health authorities in Germany and other EU countries want to carry out random checks on travelers and examine waste water from aircraft from China for possible new variants.

Despite the severe corona outbreak, domestic travel in the People's Republic should recover to a large extent for the Chinese New Year on January 22nd.

According to estimates, the travel volume should reach around 70 percent compared to the time before the pandemic, as reported by The Paper newspaper.

Hundreds of millions of people traditionally travel to their home villages and visit relatives for the most important Chinese family festival.

Experts fear further waves of infection if the virus is carried from the metropolises that are now affected to the - even less prepared - inland provinces and rural areas.

A particularly large number of old people live in rural China, and they are not sufficiently protected by vaccinations.

Medical care outside of the cities is also often inadequate.