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Brother was in town (Shanghai) for a conference in Dec 09 and he brought along his wife. They decided to stay back for a few days after the conference to contribute to Chinese economy. Being their 4th times in Shanghai in 2 years, I was really cracking my head struggling to think of interesting places to bring them around. As the wife is around, bar-sauna-disco hopping does not sound like a good idea … Being overseas Chinese, they are of course very interested in seeing the great history of China – so BJ and Xi’an off we go.
For the trip, we took Hainan Airlines (HU) from Shanghai Hongqiao to Beijing terminal 1 – the cheapest option for the day (a Thursday morning).
No aerobridge was assigned for the flight which would take us to Beijing, an baby Boeing 737-800 …
Only a slight 15 mins delay and off we went … rare for a Chinese airlines, the pilot actually came online and addressed the cabin giving flight details, in perfect English ! From his ascent, we were guessing the pilot is from Singapore/Malaysia – which is very comforting for my in-law as that was her first time taking Chinese airlines and apparently had some mis-conceptions about them …
The aircraft is very clean and the stewardess speaks good English. Legroom is OK for a short flight … (SQFG – owe you a royalty for this
)
Breakfast served was edible …
In-flight entertainment consisted of LCD screens showing Chinese-made cartoon … Me and my brother spent time pretending to chat while appreciating the beautiful stewardesses, me openly whilst he secretly.
Soon enough we landed safely at Beijing terminal one. I swear that when we touched down, I “overheard” a sigh of relief from my in-law, and a sigh of “why is the flight so short” from my brother …
HU ranks very highly on my preferred carrier list in Mainland China whenever I want a cheap flight and when I don’t care about Asia Miles or Star Alliance points. I always have a pleasant experience with HU throughout my 6 years of occasional flights with them.
We stayed at Park Plaza Wangfujing Beijing – an adequate 4-star property at a very good location. Forgot to take picture as I’ve stayed there too many times! … so sorry !
We spent the next two days visiting the must-visit in BJ – in cold cold weather:
The Forbidden City:
Some random seat in the palace
This is apparently where the emperor spent his wedding night(sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss) …
After several hours at the Forbidden City in sub-zero temperature, the highlight of the day (for me, as I’ve been to Forbidden City 6 times prior to the trip) is no doubt :
(To be continued … )
For the trip, we took Hainan Airlines (HU) from Shanghai Hongqiao to Beijing terminal 1 – the cheapest option for the day (a Thursday morning).
No aerobridge was assigned for the flight which would take us to Beijing, an baby Boeing 737-800 …
Only a slight 15 mins delay and off we went … rare for a Chinese airlines, the pilot actually came online and addressed the cabin giving flight details, in perfect English ! From his ascent, we were guessing the pilot is from Singapore/Malaysia – which is very comforting for my in-law as that was her first time taking Chinese airlines and apparently had some mis-conceptions about them …
The aircraft is very clean and the stewardess speaks good English. Legroom is OK for a short flight … (SQFG – owe you a royalty for this
)Breakfast served was edible …
In-flight entertainment consisted of LCD screens showing Chinese-made cartoon … Me and my brother spent time pretending to chat while appreciating the beautiful stewardesses, me openly whilst he secretly.
Soon enough we landed safely at Beijing terminal one. I swear that when we touched down, I “overheard” a sigh of relief from my in-law, and a sigh of “why is the flight so short” from my brother …
HU ranks very highly on my preferred carrier list in Mainland China whenever I want a cheap flight and when I don’t care about Asia Miles or Star Alliance points. I always have a pleasant experience with HU throughout my 6 years of occasional flights with them.
We stayed at Park Plaza Wangfujing Beijing – an adequate 4-star property at a very good location. Forgot to take picture as I’ve stayed there too many times! … so sorry !
We spent the next two days visiting the must-visit in BJ – in cold cold weather:
The Forbidden City:
Some random seat in the palace
This is apparently where the emperor spent his wedding night(sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss) …
After several hours at the Forbidden City in sub-zero temperature, the highlight of the day (for me, as I’ve been to Forbidden City 6 times prior to the trip) is no doubt :
(To be continued … )
Thanks for the great insight! 
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