In TPE I asked indeed for the supervisor and I got a flat NO from him. He showed me a handwritten list with just four fights with which they were allowing interlining that day. They insisted that, if they included the interlining in the baggage ticket, my suitcase would get lost.

I had four hours for the connecting flight in Shanghai which were reduced to two due to delays in Taipei (just one runway working on Sunday), so, when I landed in Shanghai, I basically run for my life, convinced the policeman /dragon (no punt intended) to jump the queue in passport control and get first in line. The police woman in passports was not happy with my story but reluctantly let me cross the border after some discussions and additional questions (yes, I am one of those that do not need visa this year). Once I got my suitcase, I also apologised to 200 people and jumped the queue in customs control. I then run upstairs to check in again with our Lufthansa friends and, once checked in, got back in line to explain to another Chinese policeman why I had stayed in the country just one hour. Not easy. Then, security checks again before going straight to the gate.

So, thank you very much, Lufthansa and Air China...

I have another similar Lufthansa ticket in the coming weeks going via Shanghai to Taipei, I want to clarify this total mess before I buy another one not transferring in mainland China (the current one is non refundable).

Thanks for reading!