moondog

I've never flown ZH longhual, but it can't be that bad.

The main reason I'm replying is to opine on that 6-8 hour layover at SZX. While terminal is big and beautiful, I couldn't imagine spending 6 hours there on purpose. Just try to imagine an enormous shopping mall chalk full of stores selling things like wedding dresses and $10,000 handbags, yet with remarkably few places to eat. The good news is that there's now a Hyatt House and Hyatt Place really close to the terminal (i.e. just walk across the pickup/dropoff road); they look pretty spiffy from the outside. Unfortunately, if you don't have a PRC visa, there's some chance that you wouldn't be granted an entry permit, even with a hotel reservation. This is much less likely to be an issue if your layover is > ~8 hours and/or at night.