Did you notice if other passengers brought their own food/drinks? Hmm, that's a good reason to keep a thermos of tea like the mainlanders do; the hot water machine is always around somewhere, and if you're in Urumqi airport, they don't even sell drinks (I could guess why, but let's not go OMNI here).

But the CN¥1 fares to secondary/tertiary cities in Japan sounds like the only reason I'd take them, given the tight seat pitch and predictably overpriced BoB (I think Air Asia isn't the worst in marking up buy-on-board meals, particularly with the Milo drink), but do you know how often those ¥1 prices are announced?