My First Intra-China Flight

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I impressed myself by rolling off the sofa at 4:50am. I caught a cab by 5:35. Through the mist I couldn't be sure of our route, but it seemed to be pretty direct so I was pleased. I bought my ticket and plopped myself down in one of the seats. I then spent the entire ride paranoid that I had gotten on the wrong bus (there was only one with an open door) and would end up in Shanghai instead... and then miss my flight.

Airports in China are different. Different than the US, different than India, different than London. The lines for check-in were ridiculously long for the hour of 6:45 am. I checked in at the self-check-in, waving my passport in front of the machine the whole time like it kept telling me to do. I was baffled. Nothing would happen. I asked someone for help and they were clueless too. Finally I just typed in my passport number. Magic. I instantly had a boarding pass printed out for me. It's amazing what you can do when you're not checking a bag.

Security was the next different thing I encountered. One person sits at a desk and carefully checks your ID against your ticket. Yes, that horrible photo is really me. While this may seem a bit time consuming, it works rather well since it's almost a guarantee the person in front of you will be moving slowly. I put my bag and purse on the x-ray machine and stepped through the metal detector. Then I stepped up onto a platform the size of a soapbox. They wanded me down with a wand that was more sensitive than any I've encountered in the US. I then grabbed my bags and was on my way. And I got to keep my shoes on the whole time.

At the gate they call a different flight every fifteen minutes. It was a bit confusing at first. Where are the planes? I soon figured out that when they call your flight everyone lines up and they tear a stub off of everyone's ticket as they pass. Then we all get into a seatless bus which drives us to our plane. Before we climb the stairs onto the plane they tear a second stub off. Then you're on the plane.

I had more legroom on a flight in China that I've had on a US carrier in years. The safety video was played twice: once in Chinese and once in English. And then they served food. Edible food. And drinks. And there was a movie. I hope someone who works for an airline reads this.

I landed and took the city bus home. Exhausted but satisfied. That's the way a trip should be.

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Photos

Dainty Snack
I'll take the clunky version, instead.