How the Coronavirus Stands to Affect Your China Travel or Stay in Beijing

As the coronavirus continues to wreak havoc on Wuhan - forcing the government to close the southern city's entire public transport network, including planes, trains, buses, and ferries for the foreseeable future - people around the country are gearing up to return home to celebrate Chinese New Year. Of those were nearly 60,000 inbound passengers on their way to Beijing, due to land between Dec 30 and Jan 20, making the capital the #1 destination among citizens of Wuhan.

Hotels hit hard

With the news that travel out of Wuhan has been blocked, except via road, Beijing's hotels have seen knock-on cancellations in the thousands. Prices for basic rooms in many five-star hotels in Wangfujing, usually around RMB 2,000 per night, dived as of Wednesday according to this post, with one five-star international brand hotel said to have canceled nearly 200,000 sales in one day. Price-wise, this may actually be a great time for a staycation in Beijing, just wear a mask in common areas to be safe.

Major hotels are said to have increased protective measures such as wearing masks and provided training on the coronavirus to their employees. Anyone with Wuhan ID must be reported to the local police station.

Of the few hotel PR staff who were willing to speak to the Beijinger, the message was near-unanimous, describing how they have had many cancelations but operations were running as usual, adding that the safety and wellbeing of guests and staff was their first priority.

Getting in and out of Beijing

So far, the spread of the virus is not having any noticeable effect on travel in and out of the city. People leaving Beijing Capital International Airport on Wednesday, Jan 22 and Thursday, Jan 23 reported that there was nothing unusual in terms of additional health checks and security. Daxing was described as being particularly quiet. Even so, it is advised that travelers arrive earlier than they would usually to avoid unforeseen problems with the additional CNY rush and any changes in health protocol.

One person speaking to the Beijinger described how upon touching down, health staff wearing hazmat suits boarded her Beijing-Amsterdan KLM flight after a Chinese passenger reported that they were feeling ill. Passengers were allowed to alight the plane once the individual in question had been checked over.

There has not been any significant effect on Beijing's public transport except that the vast majority of commuters have taken heed of the government's official advice to wear face masks.

The World Health Organisation is still weighing up its options following an emergency meeting yesterday to decide whether the spread of the virus constitutes a global public health emergency. A verdict should be released later today, which will likely further affect travel in and out of Wuhan as well as Beijing.

Read our rolling coverage on the coronavirus here,
including frequent updates on infections, deaths, and rumors.

Images: news1.news, Mike Wester