I have flown quite a few Chinese airlines in recent years and here are my two cents: Their domestic First class and international business or First are generally comparable to the western airlines, with the exception of China Eastern, whose International First Class was worst in my memory, partially because smoking is allowed by that carrier. All Chinese carries are owned by the government. Air China is the flagship carrier and has one of the best safety records. (Note that China Airlines, infamous in recent years, are based in Taiwan and often got confused with Air China). Air China has entered into code-share arrangements with NW, CO, and HP. (CO also has limited code-share relationship with China Airlines.) China Southern, to my knowledge, has the larget passenger volumn in China and has some of the newest planes. They use Boeing 777 on long flights over the water. Most of the senior government/business officials that I know rank Air China first, China Southern second and China Eastern third as their preferred airlines. By the way, Catman, I would recommed against travelling by train in China, unless you can get into First Class. The locals often carry most of what they own with them in trains. Hope this helps.

[This message has been edited by TheAuditor (edited 03-02-99).]