Or Beijing to Nanjing in modern-speak.

Disclaimer: this appeared on a non-related plane-geek site which shall remain nameless.

This trip included a great first-class experience on ANA LAX-NRT and PVG-NRT-SFO and (a bit less great) UA DEN-LAX, NRT-PEK and SFO-DEN, but I thought I'd start small and write about the single economy-class leg of our trip, on Air China.

If anyone's interested I guess I could tell the whole trip if there are any Hilton-types (Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai) or Chinese-bus types (Nanjing to Shanghai 'cause the trains were all full due to the Labor Day holiday). But here's a slice of our trip:

April 28, 2004
CA1537 PEK-NKG
B-2670
12:40 p.m.-2:20 p.m.
737-800

We arrived at Beijing Capital Airport via taxi from the Hilton at about 10:00. Traffic was light so we were pretty early. The domestic side of the airport was busy but not chaotic. First order of business was paying our 50 Yuan �CAAC Airport Management and Construction Fee.� I think they had automated machines but we didn�t have the right change so we just walked up to the window and did it. These make great souvenirs � nice 737 image and cool-looking red stamps.

Check-in was also easy. CA shares counters with MU (China Eastern) and another airline I can�t remember, so the counters weren�t flight-specific. We weren�t asked for our seating preference but were given aisles across (11C and 11D). Security wasn�t so great � they took away a little bottle of Chinese liquor I bought as a souvenir (but they missed the mini of Johnnie Walker Black in my backpack; go figure). Oh well, it only cost 4 Yuan (about 60 cents).

We were in the wrong terminal to use any Star Alliance lounges so we tried the Air China lounge to see if we could get in. Nope. Then we noticed a Diner�s Club lounge down on one of the concourses so we went in there to hang out. They had a pretty good selection of snacks and drinks. Beer is good anytime! I was treated to the amazing sight of a China Southern 777 just zooming up to the gate � it really looked like it was going to plow right into the terminal � but it stopped smartly. I guess the captain wanted an on-time arrival!

At about 11:30 we went down to the gate 43, which was downstairs � bad sign � yes, it was a bus-gate. Interesting place to people-watch, though, and listen to lots of announcements in Chinese. Flights to Xian, Urumqi and Chengdu were lined up next to ours. Finally at about 11:55 a.m. our flight was called and we walked out to the bus, where we waited for about 10 minutes, then proceeded to our gate. It appeared that we were next to the old part of the terminal, which was being renovated (gate 104). A jetway could probably reach our aircraft if there had been a jetway! I was excited to see that our aircraft was a 737-800 � a new type for me. Boarding was a bit of a free-for-all but that is sort of a Chinese tradition. They aren�t shy about shoving you out of the way, even the little old ladies!

The aircraft was spotless inside, with new-style bins and two rows of business class. Our row was full but it soon became clear that the last 10 rows would be empty so we made our way back to row 22 (right behind the wing) and took D and F. Much better! The upholstry was gray for the first part of economy, then sort of purple for the back, with the Air China logo woven into the fabric. In the seat pocket were several magazines, including a very thick and glossy �Wings of China� that I took with me. Electronic headphones, too, with 12 channels of music (Country, Pop, Opera, Film & TV, Classical, A New Age, Chinese Opera, Jazz, Easy Listening, Chinese Folk, Comic Cross-Talk [in Chinese] and Chinese Pop). I was impressed by the selection, and enjoyed the Pop channel a lot. Listening to Evanescence, the White Stripes and 50 Cent while flying over China � a bit weird but cool.

The safety demo was shown on drop-down screens; it appeared to have been filmed on a 747. They actually showed an evacuation using the slides into what appeared to be a swimming pool. I guess it was shot at the training center. Announcements were made in Mandarin and English, which wasn�t perfect but was easy enough to understand.

We pushed back right on time and after a brief taxi were airborne. Nice climbing ability it seems. It was kind of rainy and gloomy in Beijing so it was nice to be above the clouds. I think there were five flight attendants, so service was quick. We were surprised to receive a hot lunch with two choices of entree, fish or beef. I chose the beef, which was excellent � tender and not dry at all. It came with rice and green beans/carrots, a small salad with cucumber, carrots and a cherry tomato, a roll/butter and a sort of sweet muffin. My friend had the fish which he said wasn�t as good � he didn�t enjoy the taste or the texture. The cutlery was transparent plastic in orange, yellow and purple. Two meal carts were rolled out, with a beverage cart in-between. I had a Yan Jing beer). A clean-up cart also provided coffee/tea service so I had a cup of coffee, which was decent.

During the meal the screens dropped down and news and variety programs were shown. This was in Chinese so I didn�t pay much attention.

At about 1:55 we started our descent into sunny and warm (just a bit hazy) Nanjing. We overflew the airport and then circled around to the left � I caught a quick glimpse of another aircraft on final approach maybe 1,500 feet below us � looked like an Airbus but it was gone in a flash. The approach was pretty smooth but we landed very firmly (did I read somewhere that this is an Air China trademark from its flight crews having military backgrounds?), with lots of reverse thrust and braking. I noticed a couple of 747s, which surprised me � one was Martinair and the other a Singapore cargo bird. We pulled up to the gate (with jetway) at about 2:15 p.m. Our bags quickly arrived and we were off to find a taxi.

So it�s high marks for Air China � on time, spotless and new-ish aircraft, good inflight entertainment and a nice meal served by a friendly crew. Definitely beyond my expectations for $118!

Now I've committed so I'll try to bang out the rest of the trip report.

Great report! ^ I'm glad you enjoyed your CA trip. I flew this segment a few times in the early '90s when AC and the Chinese domestic carriers (MU, CZ, etc.) were still pretty young airlines and secondary routes like this would be served by Tupelev (sp?) equipment. Cabin crew service was brusque and inflight entertainment non-existent. Things surely have changed!

nice..... very descriptive post of details i usually try to block out. i briefly toyed with the idea of going to NKG last weekend, but quickly gave up after our trip to the train/bus station resulted in too much chaos for my tastes.

regarding that 118, discounts have been in short supply recently for two reasons: 1) the holiday provided a convenient excuse to jack things up; 2) TAs had been selling tickets for significantly less than the airlines themselves were able to so they made some top-down changes.

hopefully these will be short-lived. less than three weeks ago, PEK-NKG was easily attainable for ~Y390 or <$50 (Y0.75*sector mileage multiplied by 40%).

Well, we took the easy route and bought tickets at the local travel agency (hint: don't go to AAA) since we wanted to have tickets in-hand before we left. Due to my bone-headedness, I sent our visa applications to the Chinese consulate in Chicago without realizing that they don't do mail-in applications anymore. One day I got a call from a woman who said to send an envelope with stamps so they could return our applications.

So we ended up using Travisa and sweating a bit because we only had a few days to complete the transaction. (High marks to Travisa, though. They also handled our Russian visas last year and the service is tops.) So while this was all going on I was in the mood to just be done with it, hence the travel-agent route.

We ended up taking a bus from Nanjing to Shanghai since the concierge at the Hilton told us the trains were packed due to the Labor Day holiday. Now this may or may not have been true, but we decided to go with the bus, partly because it came right to the hotel. Plus it was only 88 Yuan, or just about $10 apiece. It was a long ride - should have been about 3.5 hours but turned out to be 5 hours, 40 minutes. In the last row of a packed bus with Chinese-action VCDs playing the whole time. From ANA first class on a 777 to the last row of a Chinese bus - I think we had both ends of the travel spectrum!

Thanks for the report.

First class on a Triple Seven to the back of the bus. Sounds like how I usually travel, except I skip the first part

Nice report, Kurt! :-:

And - should you ever be so inclined to publish the entire report, including that First Class trans-Pacific sector on ANA and the bus travel, I for one would love to read it.

I'd like to hear the whole story.

I've scheduled a vacation in China this fall almost entirely using miles and points. AA miles to fly JL business class from Honolulu to Shanghai (staying at the Hilton), then on to Suzhou (to stay at the Sheraton), Nanjing (I booked the Sheraton rather than the Hilton because Frommer's reports that the Hilton is understaffed and out of the way), Qufu, Tai An, then Beijing (staying at the St. Regis), and home on JL again.

I'd particularly like to hear whether I made the right decision about Hilton vs. Sheraton in Nanjing.

Charlie

Looks to me like you're using HH or SPG points for hotels. In that case I suggest switching to the Westin in Shanghai. Or the St. Regis. The Hilton looks tired and service is spotty. It's more like a :-: :-: :-: 1/2 nowadays. There was an extensive discussion in FT on Shanghai hotels not too long ago.

While the Hilton is a bit tired, I have to disagree with your assessment. Neither the Westin nor the St. Regis are anything to write home about, but more importantly both are in sub-par locations (admitedly much less so the case with the Westin).

Yes, I'm using points for the hotel stays.

I have a bunch of HHonors points that I got mostly from airline transfers before that route closed. They're much harder to use than the SPG points, so I want to use them if I can. The Shanghai Hilton was available, and the location seemed great, so I jumped on it. I don't need luxury - in fact, I would have booked the Sheraton Great Wall or Beijing Hilton in Beijing rather than the St. Regis if it weren't for its apparently more central location. (We like to walk and take public transportation where possible when on holiday.)

Very nice trip report indeed. Good on you, Kurt!

Whilst I'm absolutely sure all my friends at Air China (especially the ones @ Customer Services) love such comment, but I do have to agree that their services have had been improved dramatically, in particular the last two years (Sorry, I know sometimes I can be very picky, but without people like me, carriers won't realise how important CS means in this industry anyway ).

Kurt, I would like to say SORRY to your friend who had the 'fish choice', which he didn't quite enjoy it, and I have forward this issue to Air China's Customer Services as well as the inflight catering company concerned anyway.

Also, as I am not very familiar with the city of Shanghai, so I guess it is better not to make any suggestion on which hotel is better or whatever. But, the hotel I like the most in Beijing would definitely be Grand Hyatt Beijing (VERY CENTRAL LOCATION, although not as central as the Beijing Hotel and so on).

Nice trip report. How did you like the weather over there?