Just want to give an update.

Tried calling the U.S. customer service center for the catering order. I was told they can't place the order for me, I have to do it online, and with the China version of airchina.com only. The English version of airchina.com.cn did not have a link for the order, only the Chinese version has the link. It requires quite a bit of information, including the number of your travel documents.

This is just too much to place a meal order for a flight. SQ's "book a chef" is much easier. I will just try to do it at the CA lounge in PEK on my outbound flight.