Incheon is as glossy as before. Arriving by train, we're treated to the bridge route to the terminal, taking you via the utterly bizarre Star Garden, built on a platform in the vast station atrium, lush and artily lit. An array of diverging travelators takes me to the OZ premium area, where I'm checked in, through security and emigration controls in under 10 minutes - it's a very smooth arrangement. The standard premium shopping mall is there, but I'm not the kind of person for whom shopping is anything more than a chore, so I head for the lounge, perched on a mezzanine with some pretty good views.

This is the OZ business lounge, and is pleasant, although with quite a mish-mash of atmospheres. The self-service food and drinks aren't bad, although type of food served at different times seems to vary with little logic. The decor is pleasant and inoffensive, but with some odd touches, like a bench table facing a wall of books. Laptop users are crowded round the few available power sockets, but I can't get the wi-fi to work on my laptop, despite it working on my phone, and for everybody else, so retreat to the business centre, where I get access through one of a series of donated (and sponsored) netbooks in cubicles, in varying degrees of health, with every application under the sun installed on by whoever feels like it. Hmm, won't be checking my bank statement in here, I think.

Boarding is called, and the gate is close by, just at the end of the main concourse. It's a busy A321 for this 4h30 flight, but they still muster up a separate desk for premium passengers, which makes boarding an absolute breeze. I have 3F. Again, I'm instantly greeted by name, and settled in with a choice of drinks, the cabin crew informing me that the seat next to me is empty, so feel free to store all my stuff there if I need it during the flight. The seats are comfortable - big, 2+2 seating, and decent pitch. Full amenities are supplied here - toiletries, slippers, pillows and blankets. It's a fair distance, and good to see an airline handling a mid-haul flight well, when I'm used to it being something of an afterthought in short-haul dominated Europe.

The plane doesn't take long to fill, and we get a series of synchronised bows from the cabin crew, followed by the same safety video we had for long haul, as well as the same "beautiful manners, beautiful travel" video. We're off unhurriedly, the A321 never being in that much of a rush to get off the ground, and service begins. It's a pleasant but generally unremarkable Chinese duck dish, something along the lines of an expensive ready meal. Drinks a-flowing, though - I get through the green tea, while a couple of increasingly red-faced but thankfully taciturn, besuited gentlemen opposite get through heroic quantities of whisky.

Arrival at Guilin is... Wet. Apparently they like neon in China - who knew - and so we are greeted by the giant neon characters for Guilin, reflected in the puddles formed by this hard rain. Rain, for an outdoor holiday? That's not what I ordered. Getting into China is painless but laborious, and makes me really rather glad I was first off the plane. The first three desks are quarantine - one for forms, one for temperature cameras, and one for medical questioning. And then there's immigration. And then baggage claim. And then customs, including full luggage x-ray. I might add that only one person was manning each of these desks. I got the impression Guilin really doesn't handle many international flights. Anyway, I'm alright Jack, out and some ATM'd Yuan in pocket as I find the taxi driver who's going to take me to Yangshuo. It's an evening arrival, after 11pm, with the return flight a nasty red-eye.

All in all, a good, polished flight, although the food was uninspiring. The service, however, was top-notch: attentive from the second you're on board, but without being overbearing. The seat was good for a mid-haul, although I'd prefer one of the fully flat ones for anything longer that this route.