Sadly, this doesn't shock me. The only times I've had to raise my voice in airports to deal with irregular ops have been in China - once at PEK with CA, and once at SHA with MU (Shanghai Hongqiao with China Eastern).

I would not necessarily avoid CA in the future (though I don't particularly suggest an international to international connection in PEK) and domestically in China you don't have other options in Star Alliance. You just have to be prepared to be both patient and very persistent in cases like this.