A Community Trip to the Quarantine Office

China hearts paperwork more than a leprechaun hearts rainbows. So when you come here to stay longer than, say, three months, you need have many official documents. There is paperwork to be done, my friends! One of your tasks is proving your health. This requires a physical exam. Actually, two physical exams: one in your country of origin, and one once you're in China within a short time of your arrival. In the States, I went to a clinic and had a doctor look in my ears and throat, take my blood pressure, and poke around my abdomen. Then I had to have him sign a form that verifies I am tuberculosis-free and that I don't have AIDS, and I was good to go. On the China side, I discovered today, they are way more in-depth.

I rode with Ethan on the back of his motorcycle (still flinching, by the way, at the aggressiveness of the traffic) to the downtown "Frontier Health and Quarantine Office." We met up with two American friends, Peggy and Stuart. Now, when you are a foreigner living in China, you are required to get this exam annually, regardless of how long you have lived there, or whether or not you have even left the country since your last exam. Peggy, Stuart, and Ethan have all lived in China for approximately 20 years, and this was their yearly pilgrimage. I was happy to accompany my friends on this adventure because they helped me navigate the bureaucracy, which was actually not as bogged down as I expected. Yay for community trips to the doctors office!

Like I said before, Chinese exams are way more in-depth. I had my blood drawn (and they DID use sterile needles from a package *whew!*) Then I peed in a cup (a TINY cup! Whhhyyy?) Then I had an EKG (where they stick suction cups to you and monitor your heart),  followed by a chest X-ray. Lastly, they tested my vision and performed the usual poking and prodding you would expect at a check up with a GP in America. Turns out I'm TB-free *whew* again! I guess that means I can stay? I have to return to the clinic to pick up my certificate of health on Monday.

With all the form signing and official stamping I've seen done, I can't help but wonder what they do with the paper trail. Surely no one monitors this stuff? Truthfully I'm not sure. But I do know that every time I go to the bank to switch US dollars to yuan, I fill out two forms and they photocopy my passport. Then the banker reviews them, stamps them with a red, official stamp, and files them away. All the veterans here say that this is nothing compared to the tussle they used to go through in the old days. Slowly, it seems, China is relaxing their requirements.

Image taken from http://codingnews.inhealthcare.com/tag/blood-draw/

 

Note the official red stamp