Can I travel to Macau?

Many countries still maintain entry restrictions and allow some people to enter, but generally those who enter for tourism purposes are not included. Different from studying abroad, working, business trips and other purposes, tourism is still regarded as "non-essential travel" and is still restricted by most countries. my country also advocates "non-essential, no travel" to prevent foreign imports.

Some people who like to travel abroad have been paying attention to the news in this regard. The backend of this account has also received a lot of inquiries, but outbound travel seems to be unrealistic at present. Here we suggest that if you are still eager to travel and can’t hold it back, I personally think that traveling to Macau SAR is a very good alternative to “outbound travel”. The reasons are as follows:

01. No quarantine required when entering Macao

Currently, people from low-risk areas in the Mainland are exempt from quarantine when entering Macao: as long as they have been in the Mainland in the past 14 days and have not traveled abroad or abroad in the past 21 days. From the Hong Kong SAR, there is no need to quarantine when entering Macau. As long as you have a negative nucleic acid test certificate within 7 days, scan the QR code and fill in a Macau QR code health code.

At present, most areas in the mainland are low-risk. Only places where the epidemic has recently occurred will be "differentially treated" by the Macao SAR, such as the recent Ruili City in Yunnan Province. The same was true for the previous epidemic in Guangdong Province. After the clearance, the Macao SAR immediately restored the entry measures for Guangdong and Macao. Therefore, I believe that if Ruili City is cleared in the future, it will be classified as a low-risk area by the Macao SAR again.

02

. No quarantine required when returning from Macau

We know that returning from abroad and entering China now require 14+7 or 14+14 quarantine, but There is no need to quarantine when returning to the mainland from Macao, so when traveling to Macao, there is no need to quarantine when going out and coming back. This is real tourism. If you have to be quarantined while traveling, the experience will be terrible.

In some countries, although Chinese citizens can now travel, there may not be many who actually travel. For example:

Greece: Although it attracts Chinese tourists, the Schengen visa issued by the Greek Consulate in Shanghai can only travel in Greece.

Singapore: Although Chinese citizens can currently enter Singapore, the procedures are also complicated and require time to understand and prepare. For details, please refer to the previous article: A detailed introduction to the various procedures for Chinese citizens to enter Singapore

Thailand: It has been promoting that Phuket and Koh Samui are open for tourism, but in fact there are currently no direct flights between China and Phuket. Even if there is, if you go, you will be required to get vaccinated, take a nucleic acid test, apply for a visa and entry permit, check into a reserved hotel, and buy insurance. There is no agency to help you do it, and ordinary people are afraid that they will not be able to handle it on their own.

The most important thing is that after returning from travel, according to my country's epidemic prevention rules, you need to do a "double clearance test" at the testing institution designated by the Chinese consulate abroad, and then apply to the Chinese consulate abroad Green Health Code. Only when you get the Green Health Dragon Code can you board the flight back home. After returning to the country, you will undergo 14+7 or 14+14 quarantine.

If you just travel abroad, then this kind of travel experience will be too bad.

03.

Macao is very safe to travel to

According to the Macao Response and Coordination Center, as of July 5, there has never been community transmission of the new coronavirus in Macao. There have been no local cases reported (including asymptomatic persons) for 463 consecutive days. The Macau SAR also announced on July 19: On Friday and Saturday (July 16 and 17), more than 33,000 and 32,000 people entered Macau respectively, and there was a clear upward trend in inbound tourists. The average hotel occupancy rate reached 52.1% from July 1 to 15, an increase of 8.4% from 43.7% in June.

As for other countries, let’s take Thailand as an example. According to the Thai Headline News Agency:

The current domestic epidemic in Thailand now has over 10,000 new cases every day and 13 provinces are under lockdown. However, Thailand The tourism bureau still will not admit defeat and still aims to attract 3 million foreign tourists to Thailand this year, 90-100 million domestic tourists, and generate 850 billion baht in tourism revenue. In addition, Phuket *** received 8,377 tourists from the Phuket Sandbox Program between July 1 and 18, and 16 infected patients were found.

In this case, even if you can go to Phuket, you don’t dare to go, you can’t go. Also like Greece, after July 1, people holding EU vaccine certificates can move freely within the EU, but can travel to Greece be said to be 100% safe? After all, Westerners are sometimes "too liberal".

04

. Macao visa application is convenient

Mainland people going to Macao need to apply for a "Hong Kong and Macao Permit" (referred to as "Hong Kong and Macao Permit") and endorsement (also divided into Independent travel visas and group visas). At the beginning of the epidemic, Hong Kong and Macao passes and visas were suspended for a period of time, but they were quickly restored.

If you already have a "Hong Kong and Macau Pass" (currently all in card form, like an ID card): As long as the pass is still valid, you can take the "Pass" to the local entry-exit office. You can do it by yourself on the self-service machine. The machine will erase the old expired endorsement and print a new one, which is very convenient.

If you do not have the "Hong Kong and Macau Pass" and "Endorsement" or they have expired, you can make an appointment to go to the Exit-Entry Administration Office to apply for them. It is also very convenient to apply now.

05

. Transportation is convenient

Compared to going abroad and coming back from abroad, aviation restrictions are still maintained at present, with fewer flights and more expensive air tickets. For passengers, you don’t know which one is safe and the risk of infection is high. Air tickets to Macau are cheap, trains are convenient, and traveling with children is not a big problem.

06

. Convenient entry and exit customs clearance

Currently, mainlanders who want to go to Macau must either fly or enter through land ports. If you are flying, you only need a round-trip ticket. Now you can fly directly to Macau regardless of whether you have an independent travel visa or a group visa. Entry through land ports and Hengqin Port in Zhuhai is also very fast. 5 minutes of self-service entry is enough, so I won’t go into details here.

Hengqin Port (picture source from the Internet)

07

. Macau is worth a visit

Macau’s scenery and status are worth a visit go. Hong Kong and Macau are the only two special administrative regions in China. Every Chinese should visit them if they have the opportunity in their lifetime. As the saying goes, if you don't visit the Great Wall, you are not a hero, and if you don't visit Hong Kong and Macao, you will feel a little regretful. Scenery or travel guide can be easily found by searching online.