Day 2 of 4-Day Return Process to China – Getting tested

Earlier this morning, I went to the testing facility that's approved by China government to get my test done.

Fortunately for me, it was within 15 minutes walking distance from the hotel that I'm staying at near LAX, the H hotel!

Since it’s so close and I wanted to get a bit of exercise in, I walked there instead of taking a shuttle.

The address is 5757 W. Century Blvd., and the center is located on the seventh floor in room 722. Once you enter the building, go to your left and there will be a set of elevators. Take one of them to the seventh floor and once you exit the elevator, you'll see several signs that say 722 that you will follow to reach the office.

When I arrived, there were two other passengers filling out the paperwork. They probably arrived just before I did because we finished our paperwork around the same time. I made sure to mark the two specific types of tests that my HR department said were required according to the new rules.

I got chance to meet Abby who I had been in contact with through email and phone the week before. She was sweet and answered my questions about the results turnaround. After I submitted my paperwork and paid the $265 the fee, it was time get my temperature checked.

The machine was contactless and basically had a radar for your entire face that able to gauge your temperature. The quality of the video monitor was actually very good so kept checking myself out because I liked what I saw. ?

After checking my temperature, Yasmin, the other administrative assistant took me to the back where we began the testing procedures.

First, she did a nose swab. This was my second nose swab test in less than a week and I must say that both times were not as horrid as the stories I’d been told.

One of the reasons it took me so long to do the nasal test is because I needed to muster up the courage to take it! I was terrified that the person would jam the long Q-tip all the way in the back of my nostrils like some of the experiences a few others have had. But Yasmin didn't do that at all. She didn't go all the way up into my eyeball liked I thought she would.

Next, she moved on to the blood test.

First, I must warn you that I have very small veins. Always have had them. I noticed that Yasmin was experiencing some difficulty drawing blood from my arm as she was using a larger needle.

I suggested that she use a smaller needle - a butterfly needle - because that’s usually what medical professionals use on me once they see my small veins. She thought that they only had one size needle so she went to ask Abby for help.

Abby took a look at my teeny weeny veins and brought out a smaller needle. For some reason, my veins were really defiant and did not want to release any blood. Like...at all. But, she was able to withdraw enough blood (just a few drops) to meet the test requirements and send it off to the lab. And that was it. It didn’t take long at all.

Afterwards, I walked back to the hotel and now I am just chilling in the room, waiting until tomorrow for the test results to be emailed to me between 10am and 2pm. When I receive the test results, I will need to go back to the link that the embassy sent to me last week and begin the application for the health code.

So this is officially day 2 of what I’ve been calling a four-day process of returning to China. Day 1 was all about the packing process and getting here (to LAX), checking in to the hotel, and preparing for this morning’s test.

Day 3 is all about getting the results and submitting them to the consulate for the health code verification and boarding the plane. Lastly, day 4 is getting to China, going through customs, with my two passports, and my residency permit. This is one of the things that I’ve been concerned about because my Chinese residency permit is in my old passport, not my new passport. It is my hope and prayer that this is not an issue and I’ll be able to pass through customs without a problem.

So this is the 4-day process that I've been talking about and I really appreciate you sticking with me through this journey.

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