Originally Posted by goliathkills

So I landed in Kunming last night and I thought it might be useful to someone else to know what the current process is for China Eastern SFO - Qingdao - Kunming. Overall I would say it is a lot of hassle and chaos at times, so hopefully you're getting a killer deal if you decide to book it.

Landing in Qingdao everyone gets off the plane. We were parked at a gate in the international terminal. Although there are signs to connect to other flights, ignore them and go through immigration. If you are wanting a 24 hour transit visa, it is very important to have proof of your flight out of China printed out and ready to show the immigration agent. This was a problem for many people on our flight.

Then you meet a representative at baggage claim who gives you another card with the gate and boarding time. You do not claim your baggage. Instead, go through domestic security and go to the gate. During boarding at the gate, you need to show your boarding pass from SFO and the card you got at baggage claim at Qingdao.

At Kunming when you exit the plane there is an agent yelling for people from San Francisco. You follow them down stairs to a bus. In our case it was 34 degrees and foggy/rain, and you have to wait until the last person is off the plane and on the bus. You likely can skip this if you didn't check a bag.

On the bus they give you a card/lanyard that you need to wear. The bus then drops you off at immigration but you as a group get to skip the line since you cleared in Qingdao. You then claim your luggage, wait for a really long time to get through customs, and finally you've arrived curbside in Kunming.

Hopefully this helps someone.