This is day 2. Lunch should arrive in an hour to an hour and a half. Someone also gave me another barcode to scan while taking my temperature. Guess I'll run the paper through a translator to see what it's supposed to do before scanning it.
Sadly, I didn't get assigned to the new facility. Pretty much after entry declaration, health check (temp, throat swab, nasal swab), customs, and collection of luggage, everyone gets in a line. When you get to the front, you go to the next bus. They even announce that you get no choice about where you go. I don't know if any of the buses went anywhere else, but mine was one of at least a dozen than went to the same hotel in Foshan. I recognized a few people on adjacent buses that were on the same flight. The room is spacious (a pair of double beds and a nice sized bathtub I intend to soak in), but could use a little bit more routine maintenance.
The English copy of the guidebook said pay online (WeChat or Alipay) within either 24 or 72 hours (mentioned in 2 places). I'll go out on a limb and guess they'd rather alternatives for foreigners without WeChat than not get paid. I have zero idea what would happen if someone refused to pay. They can't exactly throw them out on the street. Official cost at this hotel for 14 days of room and food comes to 5964 RMB, which is a few hundred less that the new quarantine facility.
Deliveries are possible, but food (takeout or otherwise) and cigarettes are specifically prohibited from delivery.
Food is provided. It's generic Chinese takeout. Happily, I've got half a suitcase full of snacks.
The room does have a fridge (I should have gambled and brought an 8 ounce cheese brick - I could eat one in 2 days if no fridge).
The room is well stocked with almost everything. The one item that's a little short is bottled water. 30 bottles for 14 days isn't quite going to cut it for me. The good news is that more is available on request for 2 RMB per bottle, so death by dehydration is quite unlikely.
I've got the WeChat of an employee who either speaks English or has some really good translation software. There was some sort of BEEEEEP every 30 seconds somewhere out in the hallway last night when I was trying to go to bed. I messaged my contact, didn't get a quick response, so called my wife and asked her to talk to the front desk. Reaction was typical for a Chinese hotel. First, they send a maid or similar person who didn't really do anything. Another couple of calls from my wife as well as from my WeChat contact (I send an audio file just to show how loud it was) finally got someone who hunted it down. I'm about 90% sure it was some sort of "a door that's supposed to be closed isn't closed properly" alert.
The flight from LAX to GZ was a wee bit surreal. On the way to the US, the stewardesses were dressed in their standard China Southern uniforms plus masks. Two meals were served and a wide variety of drinks was available. On the way back, they were in bunny suits with masks and face shields. Food was a sack of assorted small items. Hot water, tea, and bottled water were offered a few times. I did see one person get juice on request.
All the airport workers on the way into China were in bunny suits, as were the people unloading the buses and inside the hotel. The only people dressed normally were a few uniformed and masked police officers keeping an eye out for stragglers from about 15 meters away.
I am allowed to open my door - for deliveries, temp checks, swabs (got one up the nose while writing this post), and to toss my trash in my very own biohazard waste bin. There's a taped line about 30 cm from the door. My delivery table and waste bin are on my side of it. I guess I'm not supposed to cross it (and don't intend to test this theory).
From what I can tell, the Chinese citizens in the rooms around mine are getting exactly the same food and medical tests I have, except maybe for the person on WeChat (they can just call the front desk) and English copies of some of the documents.