China – Page 4

A Rant Against China Eastern Airlines

…and a Rave for Shanghai Airlines

On Friday, April 21 my family and I left Shanghai for Xi’an. We went by bus from central Shanghai to Pudong International Airport and arrived at 6:30 p.m. in time for our 8 p.m. China Eastern Airlines flight. At 7:30 p.m. we arrived at the gate and waited for the boarding call. The flight was delayed due to a freakish thunder storm. We waited almost one hour to board, standing in line with hundreds of other passengers. The flight was full. At about 9 p.m. we were ushered into the plane. The weak announcement overhead periodically announced that we had to wait for other airplanes to depart. At midnight, our flight finally departed.

Waiting three hours for a flight is bearable, but China Eastern Airlines mismanaged the flight. As China’s second largest airline, I expected better service. The boarding was chaotic, and once we were seated, we were subjected to poor circulation and high temperatures induced by warm bodies cramped in a parked airplane. The air hostesses brought drinks and peanuts but were at a loss to provide any other comfort. The flight was miserable. Our Airbus A300 did not handle the turbulence of the thunder storm and China’s central plateau well. Airbus builds its jets so that flight stress is borne by the fuselage, not the wings. You could feel every dip and crack during the flight. It did not help that we flew on an older Airbus. My son slept during the entire flight, but my poor wife paled and gripped my hand with each turbulent shock. I’ve flown on China Eastern a few times and was satisfied with the flights. This one failed miserably. Because the flight was a domestic route serving Shanghai and Xi’an, it’s likely that the level of customer service was a notch below that of international routes. While a regional carrier, China Eastern still serves several international locations, including London and Los Angeles.

I might let my experience with China Eastern slide, but I was surprised by the difference between their service to Xi’an and Shanghai Airlines’ return service to Shanghai. When we flew back to Shanghai on April 23, we flew on a brand new Boeing 737-800. The air hostesses reminded me of international hostesses. They served real food, and the flight was smooth as glass and on time. Our experience on China Eastern Airlines and Shanghai Airlines could not have been more different. I was more concerned about flying Shanghai Airlines than China Eastern Airlines, but it seems that my concern was misplaced. If you have plans to fly in China, give Shanghai Airlines a try.

On Thursday we will fly Delta Airlines back to the states. I hope that our next experience with Delta will be better than our previous one. One thing is for sure–we will not wait to be the last passengers on the plane.

Another Fish Head on the Table?

Dear Reader, why is it that every time I dine at a restaurant in China, I invariably find myself staring at some fish with its head still intact? The fish could be battered, fried, basted, baked, broiled, sautéed, deboned, or carved into intricate designs, but the head is always there, staring at me like a poor animal frozen in place, gazing at me as if it is in its final throes of death with its mouth open in anguished horror as whatever blunt instrument bludgeoned it struck in, or as it grasped for its one final gulp of oxygen-filled water before its gills hit the air on the cutting board. It is decorative to leave the poor fish’s head and tail intact while turning its gutted innards into some eye-pleasing creation. I know it’s not much more humane to remove the fish head, but as an American I psychologically prefer not to have my food staring back at me while I eat it. It reminds me of a time when I dined with family in China. I picked up some chicken from a bowl of chicken in some sauce I don’t remember, and I stared right into the closed eyes of a chicken head stuck between my chopsticks. I gave the piece away. Eating the head of an animal just isn’t appealing to me.

I have a game I call “count the number of fish heads on the table.” Each time I dine at an “authentic” Chinese restaurant (fast food Chinese restaurants in the states do not count), I like to count how many fish dishes come with their heads intact. The “authentic” quotient of the restaurant goes up with each head I count. So far all the restaurants I’ve been to on this trip have had one or fewer fish heads. Perhaps the best meal I’ve eaten was in Xi’an, when we ate at a Shaanxi restaurant. Shaanxi cuisine is heavily influenced by the large Muslim population living in the area. We feasted on roasted lamb and lamb dumpling stew with noodle. As a fan of Middle Eastern cuisine, I have a new-found love for western Chinese cuisine. Thankfully, none of it is served with a head intact.

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O Sunscreen, Where Art Thou?

Dear Reader, we returned to Shanghai early this morning. When I told colleagues we had spent the weekend in Xi’an, they were aghast. A visit to Xi’an usually lasts three-to-four days, not a short weekend. We had a fabulous time there. Our trip within a trip ended without any major incidents, although our schedule was somewhat compact. I will write more about our Xi’an trip soon, because unfortunately I have very little time to blog today.

This trip reminded me of something that happens without fail during travel–packing the right items is a very challenging endeavor. Have you ever traveled and left behind something important? Have you ever lugged around something that you thought you needed and didn’t need after all? We thought the weather in Xi’an would be cool, so I packed a sweatshirt. It’s April, and central China can be cold in the springtime. My sweatshirt ended up sitting in the suitcase during the entire trip, unused, taking up valuable space. I should have left it behind! On the other hand, I forgot my sunglasses and sunscreen. I didn’t bring either item with me from Seoul, and both would have come in handy. The weather was spectacular, and on Sunday when we visited the tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huang and his army of terra cotta, my skin turned from suntanned to sunburned. Fortunately, the burn isn’t bad, and in a day or so it will fade into a nice suntan. In the meantime, I will wear my sunburn as a trophy from Xi’an until it disappears. If I had left my sweatshirt behind and replaced it with sunscreen and sunglasses, I would have had more room in my luggage. You just never know what you’ll need when you travel.