In anticipation that my daughter’s middle school will request a negative COVID-19 test within seven days of school restarting next week, we went to get tested. We chose the testing center across from Ditan Hospital, located not too far from Western Academy of Beijing (WAB) and the French International School of Beijing (LFIP) in Laiguangying, northeastern Chaoyang District.
You can watch a video of our experience here:
This is by no means the only place to get tested, but its location makes it convenient for those living in neighborhoods near WAB, French School, Harrow Beijing (HBJ), and The International Montessori School of Beijing (MSB). It’s also not too far from Lido, Wangjing, and the villa district of Shunyi.
The testing facility is located across the street and slightly south of the main gate of Ditan Hospital (marked with a star on this map).
While you can get a COVID-19 test in the hospital itself (via the emergency room), we went to a commercial testing facility across the street from the hospital, located in a series of temporary prefab housing units placed on a dead-end street.
No appointment was necessary and the staff there were efficient, courteous, and helpful, even if you do not speak any Chinese. The testing facility is run by KingMed Diagnostics, a private company that set up there towards the beginning of the COVID-19 era earlier this year.
All testing is done without the need for going indoors. Glass half full: safer. Glass half empty: freezing cold.
Testing runs 7 days a week from 9am to noon, then 1.30pm to 4.30pm. Unfortunately, it’s closed Jan 1-3, but other firsthand accounts of testing, including at Beijing United, are similar and they are open this weekend.
You remain outdoors during the entire process, and it runs like clockwork. When we arrived, there were 25 people already in line. It took us 30 minutes to get tested, which means they are testing at a rate of about one person every minute.
While waiting in line, staffers will come by to register you and collect your payment via WeChat. You’ll need to scan a QR code and fill it out in Chinese; if you don’t need a fapiao, all you will need to do is enter your name (in all capitals, they told us), and your cellphone number. The test costs RMB 120 and your results will show up in your Health Kit in WeChat the next day.
At the head of the line, you’ll once again be asked for your name and cellphone number, as well as your passport number.
After registering, you’ll receive a test tube that you bring around and hand to the person in the hazmat suit wielding an extra-long Q-Tip.
You’ll then follow the people in front of you who are lining up in front of what appears to be a drive-through window. Stand in line, hand the staff member your test tube, pull your mask down, and say “ah”. A swab around the back of your throat and you’re done.
Presuming you input your passport number correctly in both your test and also your Health Kit, your negative result will pop up in the Health Kit the next morning. If you test positive, I’m guessing you’ll know that too, if not from the app but from the group of people wearing hazmat suits that will inevitably gather outside your door.
The result should turn up in your Health Kit the next morning; if it does not, use the KingMed WeChat mini program to access your report.
If for some reason you get no result in your Health App, you can download a copy of the test result from KingMed’s WeChat mini-app. Here’s how: find them at WeChat ID: KingmedServices; log in using the name you used at testing plus your cell phone number. Enter the account and you’ll see “Services” in English. Click on that and then click on the item that has the little flame icon next to it (新冠速查). There you’ll find the result.
The testing facility is a little tricky to find and is not well marked, but in recent days has been obvious due to the line of people that has formed in front of it. It is located across the street and slightly south of the main gate of the hospital (on the east side). Look for a small two-story brick guardhouse and the entrance is just on one side of that.
Finding the testing facility — located on a dead-end street across from Ditan — is a bit tricky. The entrance is just on one side of this two-story brick guardhouse.
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Photos: Michael Wester
