Last week I flew in business class on a CA regional flight PEK-SIN. Wasn't voluntary--I had to get rebooked on it when my PEK-BKK flight on TG had to turn back to Beijing with serious engine problems, then cancelled, and I needed to get out that night with no other options. Was the red eye leaving 11:30 pm on a 767-300ER model, 2-2-2 configuration. Load was very light, only 10 people in a 30-seat cabin, and 4 of us were "refugees" from Biz on the cancelled TG flight.

Seat: old style recliner with footrest, very firm cushions. One of most uncomfortable seats I have ever sat in, as I have short legs and the seat is set too high and I couldn't reach the footrest . Might be fine if you were at least 5'-7 though. I ended up using my carryon as a footrest. Pitch was tolerable for regional business class but not up to standard for real long haul. Pillion inbetween seats is fixed so can't be removed to use empty seat next to me. They did recline a lot though. Grade: C-

Crew: FA's quite pleasant and eager to help, I was incredibly surprised. A decent English speaker or two (although I can speak Mandarin). They didn't have a heavy workload and did respond to requests promptly from the 10 of us. Grade: B+ to A-

Food & Beverage: Simple juices and water preflight. Only a light meal due to red-eye: choice of a rice dish, a noodle dish, or western pasta dish with salad, bread and fruit for dessert. Linen service not served on trays but brought by course. I had the western (cannelloni), which was actually very good and comparable to anything I've had on TG or US-based airlines. I don't drink alcohol on flights so can't comment to that, but from looking around my fellow passengers, didn't look like much was available but some were drinking wine or beer. Prearrival just coffee/tea etc available. Grade: B to B+

Entertainment: Overhead screen only which was not used. Not too much of an issue as everybody wanted to sleep on the 6 hour overnight flight. But in daytime regional > 3 hours, a definite minus. Bring a good book or a pack of Sudokus. Grade: n/a (this flight); D (other flights)

Overall: I normally won't book any international flight on a Chinese airline, but in this case had no other option to recover from TG's IRROPS and get to where I needed to be by next day at noon. But for overnight on a regional intra-Asia flight, it's OK though nowhere near state of the art. And if price is right, maybe a value proposition worth considering.