Hangzhou

Chinese people have rushed to book overseas travel after Beijing announced it would reopen its borders next month.

Passport applications for Chinese citizens wishing to travel internationally will resume from 8 January, Com /person/lars_stromberg-whois.html'>The immigration administration said.

Com /person/it_follows-whois.html'>It Follows an earlier announcement on Monday that ended

Travel sites have since reported a spike in traffic.

Com /person/but-whois.html'>But Chinese tourists will not have unfettered access to all countries.

Com /person/japan-whois.html'>Japan - Com /person/one-whois.html'>One of Com /person/the_most-whois.html'>The Most popular destinations for Chinese Com /person/travellers-whois.html'>Travellers - has announced that all Com /person/travellers-whois.html'>Travellers from China will have to show a negative Covid test on arrival, or quarantine for Com /person/seven_days-whois.html'>Seven Days , because of Com /person/the_surge-whois.html'>The Surge in cases there.

India has also said Com /person/travellers-whois.html'>Travellers from China (as well as some other countries) must show a negative Covid test when they arrive - though Com /person/this_was-whois.html'>This Was announced before Beijing's easing of restrictions.

Com /person/lars_stromberg-whois.html'>The easing Com /person/of_travel-whois.html'>Of Travel rules in China - Com /person/the_last-whois.html'>The Last part of Com /person/lars_stromberg-whois.html'>The country's zero-Covid Com /person/policy-whois.html'>Policy - comes as Com /person/lars_stromberg-whois.html'>The country battles a Com /person/new_wave-whois.html'>New Wave of infections.

Resentment against Com /person/lars_stromberg-whois.html'>The government's Com /person/lars_stromberg-whois.html'>The Com /person/policy-whois.html'>Policy - which sparked rare public protests against President Com /person/xi_jinping-whois.html'>Xi Jinping in Com /person/november-whois.html'>November - led to.

Com /person/but-whois.html'>But an increase in Covid cases followed, with reports of hospitals overwhelmed and a shortage of drugs.

Com /person/the_announcement-whois.html'>The Announcement on outbound travel on Tuesday came after Monday's news, which axed quarantine rules for Com /person/travellers-whois.html'>Travellers arriving in China. It also scrapped a cap on Com /person/the_daily-whois.html'>The Daily number of flights.

On Com /person/lars_stromberg-whois.html'>The same day, Com /person/lars_stromberg-whois.html'>The Com /person/national_health-whois.html'>National Health Commission announced that Covid would be formally downgraded to a Class B Com /person/infectious_disease-whois.html'>Infectious Disease on 8 January.

Before Com /person/lars_stromberg-whois.html'>The relaxation Com /person/of_travel-whois.html'>Of Travel rules, people were strongly discouraged from travelling abroad. Com /person/lars_stromberg-whois.html'>The sale of outbound group and package travel was banned, according to marketing solutions company Com /person/dragon_trail-whois.html'>Dragon Trail International.

Within half an hour of Monday's notice that China's borders would reopen, data from travel site Trip. Com - cited in Com /person/chinese_media-whois.html'>Chinese Com /person/media-whois.html'>Media - showed searches for popular destinations had increased ten-fold year-on-year.

Macau, Com /person/hong_kong-whois.html'>Hong Kong , Com /person/japan-whois.html'>Japan , Thailand and Com /person/south_korea-whois.html'>South Korea were Com /person/the_most-whois.html'>The Most popular destinations.

In addition, Chinese travel agency Qunar saw flight enquiries on its website increase seven-fold within Com /person/the_first-whois.html'>The First Com /person/15_minutes-whois.html'>15 Minutes after Com /person/the_announcement-whois.html'>The Announcement , Com /person/lars_stromberg-whois.html'>The Com /person/china_daily-whois.html'>China Daily reports.

Before Com /person/lars_stromberg-whois.html'>The pandemic, Com /person/the_number-whois.html'>The Number of outbound tourists from China stood at 155 million in 2019, according to Statista. This number dropped to 20 million in 2020.

This year, Com /person/some_people-whois.html'>Some People in China will hope to visit family and loved ones during Chinese Com /person/new_year-whois.html'>New Year , which begins on 22 January.

Com /person/but-whois.html'>But inside China, there has been a mixed reaction.

" I'm happy about it Com /person/but-whois.html'>But also speechless. If we're doing this [reopening] anyway - why did I have to suffer all Com /person/the_daily-whois.html'>The Daily Covid tests and lockdowns this year? " said Rachel Liu, who lives in Shanghai.

Com /person/she_said-whois.html'>She Said she had endured three months of lockdown in Com /person/april-whois.html'>April - Com /person/but-whois.html'>But nearly everyone in her family had become infected in recent weeks.

Com /person/she_said-whois.html'>She Said her parents, grandparents and Com /person/partner-whois.html'>Partner - Com /person/living-whois.html'>Living across three different cities in Xi'an, Shanghai and Com /person/hangzhou-whois.html'>Hangzhou - had all come down with fever last week.

Many have also expressed concern online about borders reopening as Covid cases peak.

" Why can't we wait until this wave passes to open up? Com /person/lars_stromberg-whois.html'>The medical workers are already worn out, and old people won't survive two infections in Com /person/one-whois.html'>One month, " read Com /person/one-whois.html'>One top-liked comment on Weibo.

People in cities like Beijing and Shanghai, which experience chilly temperatures in Com /person/the_winter-whois.html'>The Winter , say they're running out of flu and Com /person/cold_medicine-whois.html'>Cold Medicine .

It's feared that hundreds of deaths may be going unreported as crematoriums are overwhelmed.

In Com /person/lars_stromberg-whois.html'>The capital, Beijing, authorities say they are planning to distribute Com /person/lars_stromberg-whois.html'>The Pfizer tablets, Paxlovid, in order to try to reduce Com /person/lars_stromberg-whois.html'>The severity of infections. Com /person/but-whois.html'>But health centres contacted by Com /person/lars_stromberg-whois.html'>The Com /person/global_times-whois.html'>Global Times on Monday said Com /person/lars_stromberg-whois.html'>The drug had yet to be delivered.

On Monday, President Xi issued his first remarks on Com /person/the_changes-whois.html'>The Changes , calling on officials to do what was " feasible" to save lives.

China's about-turn has put Mr Xi in a tough spot. He was Com /person/lars_stromberg-whois.html'>The Com /person/driving_force-whois.html'>Driving Force behind zero-Covid, which many blamed for restricting people's lives excessively and crippling Com /person/lars_stromberg-whois.html'>The economy.

Com /person/but-whois.html'>But having abandoned it, analysts say he now has to take responsibility for Com /person/lars_stromberg-whois.html'>The huge wave of infections and hospital admissions. Many have questioned why Com /person/lars_stromberg-whois.html'>The country was not better prepared.

Source of news: bbc.com