China Eastern Airlines Business Class Xi'An to Shanghai to Singapore Flight Review

We fly China Eastern Airlines Business class, back to Singapore from Xi'An, after a wonderful holiday in Xi'An! 

Our fight plan was as follows:

MU 5010 - dep Xian 0850, arr Shanghai 1125
MU 565 - dep Shanghai 1435, arr Shanghai 2010

As our flight departed Xian somewhat early that morning, we decided to stay at the Regal Airport Hotel for one night, so that our departure could be smooth and easy.   Our flight home would be much smoother than our exciting adventure some days earlier on getting to Xian!

Xian Xianyang Airport Terminal 3 had a dedicated check-in area for China Eastern, which was very near the security clearance.  After checking in (our luggage would be checked through to Singapore), clearing security was quite quick (there were priority lines for Premium Pax) and we quickly found our way to the China Eastern Lounge.  Just follow the signs, not difficult.  The entrance to the lounge looked like this.  I read online that China Eastern operated another lounge at the other end of the concourse.  But this lounge was very near our gates, so made a lot more sense to wait here, at the V1 lounge.

Busy Lounge
Inside the lounge, we found it quite busy indeed.  I made a video of the lounge, and you can see the crowds at the dining area.  There was a decent selection of food, and China Eastern served their signature beef noodles in this lounge too.   Indeed, the Chinese love their noodles, no doubt about that.


Nice Blue Seats
Here are some photos of the lounge.  Nice blue seats.  They looked traditional, but they were pretty comfortable.  You could actually snooze on them (we did for a while) by lounging forward.  The seats gave good support to the next! There were charging points on the floor, in between the seats, making it convenient to charge our devices.  Of course, I had to use my universal plug. You can watch my video at 5:54 to see the charging points.

Rather Sunny!
At times, it felt rather warm, because the morning sun was pouring in.  Yes, this lounge gets the morning sun.

First Class Ticket?
Was a bit tickled when I saw my boarding passes (Red) which stated First Class.  No, we didn't buy First class tickets, ours was Business class fare.  However, it seems that within China, they seem to mix Business and First.  Maybe the concept is like in the USA, where they call domestic business as First Class.  Anyway, it didn't matter, as long as we got our seats!

Our flight was delayed by almost an hour, due to late arrival of aircraft from Moscow.  Apparently MU5010 is a service from Shanghai to Moscow, via Xi'An.  So the plane came in from Moscow.  Didn't bother us too much since we had sufficient layover time at Shanghai as buffer, and waiting in the lounge was comfortable (we found a spot which didn't have the morning sun).  We could wait until the boarding announcements were made before heading to the gate.

MU 5010 Xi'an to Shanghai
Again, we had to take a bus from our gate to the airplane.  Truly, a bus airline!  We got up the mini-bus for Premium Pax, and the ride was about 5 minutes to the aircraft.  I made this video of our flight experience from Xi'An to Shanghai, on board the China Eastern Airbus A330-300 series aircraft.


This Airbus was also retrofitted with their latest cabin product, which looked very similar to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner that we flew on from Singapore to Shanghai.  Some pictures of the cabin (in a 1-2-1 configuration) below.

Notice the slightly staggered layout of the window seats - alternate between true window seat and nearer the aisle seat.

A 1-2-1 formation.  Very spacious, private feel.  Overall, a very solid hard product.

The IFE screens were fairly big.  Good enough for me to watch a movie.

When we flew from Shanghai to Xi'An a few days back on a late flight (dep 2130hrs), the catering was extremely underwhelming - 2 tarts and 5 slices of fruit!  So, I was curious, this time what would we get for a morning flight?  A slice of bread and a drink perhaps?  LOL!

Asian or Western style breakfast?
Fortunately, China Eastern did better than that.  We had a choice of Asian or Western style breakfast.  I chose Asian, not knowing what it entailed. But at least we were decent a decent breakfast (local Xi'An style), which I quite enjoyed.  Bear in mind this is a 1hr 50min flight, so my expectations weren't sky high.  Here is breakfast I enjoyed.  Do watch my video if you want more details of the food, as I examine the food tray more closely.

The flight path from Xi'An to Shanghai wasn't straight.  Wonder why.  Maybe to avoid weather, or traffic congestion, or military airspace.  Well, as long as our pilot got us to our destination safely, I can't complain.

Weather was bright and sunny as we approached Shanghai Pudong.  Managed to get a very nice view of Shanghai Hongqiao Airport from the air.  There was an aircraft landing on the runway too. Cool!


Arrival into Shanghai Pudong
Landing was smooth. Recall, when we arrived in Shanghai en-route to Xi'An, we had assumed that our onward flight was on track. This time round, I immediately turned on my flight app which could show me the arrivals/departures at the airport. Yes, our onward flight was on schedule.  Of course, don't just trust the app, check the departure boards in the airport itself.  It looked ok.  Phew!

So we made our way past security and immigration, to the departure area for international flights at Shanghai Pudong, and took the escalator up to the China Eastern Lounge.  This was supposedly China Eastern's flagship lounge.  It was rather crowded when we got there, as it was lunch hour, but we could still find a nice table for the two of us on the first level.

Food - I had 2 servings of this Nasi Goreng style rice with fish, and I couldn't resist trying that bun.

The second floor of the lounge was a lot more quiet, with many seats and very few passengers.  Head up here if you want a quite place to nap or chill. Of course, don't forget to set your alarm for your boarding time!

Another angle of the second floor.  Yes, the boarding announcements were made, but they weren't that loud.  You could miss them if you are not careful.

Boarding Time
It was time for us to board the aircraft (we waited till the boarding announcement), and we headed off to our gate.  Our aircraft was boarding from Gate 212, which was a bus boarding gate.  When we reached the gate, they had already started general boarding.  It didn't look like there was a line for priority passengers!

Well, we just followed the other business class passengers who went to the front of the line, showed the staff our tickets, and they let us through.  We headed to the mini-van for premium passengers and enjoyed our final ride on this same type of mini-bus.  We have had so many bus rides on this trip that I've lost count!

The aircraft that would be flying us to Singapore was a rather new Boeing 787 Dreamliner.  Every passenger, premium or not, had to use the same staircase up to the airplane.  I took this photo to show my parents.  The steps were steep.  Given their age, I had advised them not to take China Eastern.  Not sure if my mother can make her way up and down such steps.

Another look at the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.  Pretty neat!  We weren't in any rush to board, so we let the other passengers board first.  The weather was great, and I took many photos of the plane.  See the front gear - serial number of this plane was B-209N.  She was delivered to Shanghai Pudong on 31st March 2019.  Very new!

Flight Review - Shanghai to Singapore on the China Eastern Dreamliner in Business Class
Here is the flight review video on this Shanghai to Singapore leg.


The cabin was beautiful.  Very classy.  For this flight, I was seated in 8L, which was a window seat. (as in right next to the window)

The welcome drink was champagne, orange juice, or water. I chose the champagne. This time round, the menus were placed at our seats. I took a glance through, and from the applicable menu for our flight. China Eastern has the habit of printing a single menu that can last them for many, many months. If you watch 3:30 of my video you will see that the menu is colour coded - Red for Odd month 1st to 15th, Orange for Odd month 16th to 31st, Blue for Even month 1st to 15th and Green for even month 16th to 31st.

I guess this system saves them printing costs. For my dinner, I chose the 3 cup chicken with rice. The cabin crew asked whether I would like dinner to be served immediately upon takeoff, or later. As our takeoff time was about 2:30pm (i.e. too early for dinner), I asked to be served later. The crew said the service would be at 5:30pm, as landing was slightly past 7pm. I said ok. After the flight took off, cabin lights were dimmed, and most passengers were watching movies or took an afternoon map. The crew came around with drinks service, and I got some white wine to go with the mixed nuts that they gave out. It was good. The seat could be converted into a flat bed easily (push button) and I took a short nap. For some reason, I woke up automatically, just before dinner time. Perhaps I was getting hungry! Dinner was served. It wasn't like gourmet food, but the taste suited me just fine.

My tray table was ready for dinner service.  They gave me the red wine first.

My 3-cup chicken with rice meal.  The taste wasn't bad at all!

Well, that pretty much wraps up my Trip Report, Xi'An to Shanghai to Singapore on China Eastern Business class.  This was our first time on China Eastern, and putting aside the slight trauma we had with delays and cancelled flights on Singapore to Xi'An leg, it was a great experience for the price we had paid! 

Would we fly with China Eastern again?  Yes!  But we would also know that their flights may be delayed/cancelled etc, so we would be mentally prepared for it all. 

Thanks for reading and watching my videos!

China Eastern Airlines Business Class Adventure Singapore to Shanghai to Xian - Flight delays and Cancellations!

Welcome to our China Eastern Airlines Business Class adventure!  We fly on their Business class from Singapore to Shanghai, onward to Xi'An.  Our original flight schedule was as follows:

1. 17 May MU 566 - dep Singapore 2310, arr Shanghai 0440
2. 18 May MU 2335 - dep Shanghai 0645, arr Xi'An 0930

Baggage Checked through to Xi'An
Our baggage would be checked through.  We were looking forward to arriving in Xi'An on 18th May morning, and still have sufficient time to spend the afternoon and evening doing some touring.  We had planned for this holiday for a while now, so it was very exciting and it would be a trip of many firsts.

MU 566 Re-timed to 0800hrs the Next Morning
We arrived at Changi Airport Terminal 3 before 9PM on 17 May (Friday).  We headed straight to the SKY Priority queue, but was only to be greeted with this sight.  (see video).  There was a long line for the normal check-in, and it wasn't moving, which was strange.  It didn't take us long to realise that the flight was re-timed to 0800hrs next morning.  After speaking to one of the check-in staff (who also didn't really know what was going on), I left my mobile number and we decided to go home, even though we were told that the Airline would arrange for passengers to stay over in a hotel that night.   We decided against that since we would be more comfortable sleeping at home.

2 Flights were Re-timed
Note that both China Eastern flights to Shanghai MU 566 and MU 544 had been re-timed. Apparently, there was some weather over Guangzhou/Hong Kong area, and the Shanghai aviation authorities had decided that our flights would be re-timed. Oh well.....



Next morning - Check In at Terminal 3 
We got to the airport in good time next morning.   As we would have missed our connecting flight (MU 2335), the China Eastern ground staff re-booked us on MU 2162 departing 1730hrs.  We were quite glad that we managed to get seats on a later flight! With the revised MU 566 timing, we would only get to Shanghai around 1330hrs.  So a 1730hrs onward flight would still be ok.

Also, we could claim the taxi fare (from Airport to home and back to Airport) at the counter (so remember to keep your receipts), and we got that in cash.

SATS Premier Lounge Terminal 3
With our baggage checked through, and boarding passes in our hand (for both MU 566 and MU 2162), we got through immigration and headed to the SATS Premier Lounge at Terminal 3. China Eastern Airlines uses this contract lounge.  It was super busy that morning, and it got a bit unsightly because the staff couldn't clear the used plates quickly enough.   Anyway, we managed to find a seat, and I got some breakfast.   The food wasn't too bad - got some laksa, noodles, porridge and even otah-otah.  I didn't eat too much as I expected more food on the plane.



Departure from Changi Airport Terminal 3
We got to our departure gate at Changi Airport in good time.  But when we got there, I noticed that the cabin crew was still seated near the gate! Not a good sign.

Missing Plane?
Where was the plane?  It was just being towed in!  So what happened was that the plan was likely parked at some remote stand overnight, and now it was being towed to the gate in preparation for departure.  The video below shows you the plane being towed in, and some footage of takeoff.



Travel Insurance Documentation
Oh yes, before I forget, we had bought travel insurance for our trips and in this case, I believe we could claim some money due to trip delay.  However, as with all insurance claims, you need the proper documentation.  For trip delays, you definitely need a letter from the Airline to prove that the plane was delayed.  We were told by the check-in staff to get these letters at the boarding gate.  We got 2 copies.  They looked like this.  You need one letter for every passenger, so we got two of such letters.

Retimed MU 566 - Singapore to Shanghai, departing 0800hrs 18 May
A short while later, we boarded the aircraft.  Finally, we were on our way! This was our first ever flight on China Eastern.  This Boeing 787-900 Dreamliner was almost brand new [Serial Number B-209N].  The business cabin was gorgeous, it was in a 1-2-1 staggered formation.  My wife sat in front of Seat 7L, while I was in seat 8L (picture below).  Take note that the window seats were alternate, that means some of the window seats (like 8L) were truly window seats, but others were slightly away from the window (like 7L and 9L).  Reason was that they needed sufficient space to allow the seat to be deployed into a flat bed.  If you watch the video below from the 1 minute mark, you can see the staggered formation - 6L, 7L, 8L.  The Business class starts with row 6.  In front of row 6 is called Row 1, and that was the First class seating.  I didn't see anybody seated in 'First class' though.

Seat 8L

Flight Review Video - Singapore to Shanghai on China Eastern Boeing 787 Dreamliner
Here is my flight review video for the Singapore to Shanghai leg.  We enjoyed the service.


Smooth Flight on New Aircraft
The flight was very smooth, the experience was wonderful.  We were served a pre-departure drink (champagne included) as well as a hot towel.  Before take off, the stewardess came around to take our meal orders.  There wasn't a menu though placed at the seat, though the stewardess carried one with her.  I chose the assorted Dim Sum.  She also asked whether we wanted my meal to be served immediately upon take-off, or just before landing.  I said to be served straight after take-off.  She also asked for permission to wake me up for the meal service if I fell asleep!  Interesting.

Entire Breakfast on Single Tray
The meal was served on a single tray - efficient.  This was what my Assorted Dim sum meal looked like.  The bowl was sweet potato porridge, which was rather flavourful (i.e. not plain).  I ate it all.  Later on, the stewardess also came around with warm bread/croissant.   Meal service was quick and efficient, which I didn't mind.

After my meal, I converted my seat into a bed (push button, very easy) and I took a nap for about an hour or so.  Well, since I had a seat with a flat bed, might as well!  Landing into Shanghai was smooth and overall, it was a very good flight, the delay notwithstanding.

Part 2 of Adventure - Flight Cancellation! 
At Shanghai Pudong, the aircraft was parked at an aero-bridge and we got off the plane very quickly.  This was the first time that we were flying through Shanghai (international to domestic) and we didn't really know where to go.  So we asked around and realised that we had to clear Immigration.  That was quite simple and straightforward - the lines weren't long.  After clearing Immigration, we were told to go through the baggage collection area, clear Customs, enter the Arrival Hall and then proceed upstairs to the main public departure hall and enter the restricted area for Domestic flights again.  We didn't need to collect our luggage as they had been checked through.

Shock!
It was quite easy to navigate and then we got a shock.  As my wife tried to clear security to enter the restricted area for Domestic flights, the security officer who checked her boarding pass informed her that our flight MU 2162 dep 1730 for Xi'An had been cancelled!  What???  We were just booked on that flight that very morning, at around 6AM while still at Singapore Changi!!  It was now past 1PM, and the flight was cancelled.  We were told to go to the China Eastern reservation counters to get ourselves rebooked!

Goodness, this was getting crazy.  We were originally supposed to arrive in Xi'An before 10AM on 18 May. But now, we weren't even sure that we would be able to make it to Xi'An on that day!  Thankfully, my wife spoke very fluent mandarin. We had to go speak at several different China Eastern counters (because they said different departments took charge of different things!).  In summary, we had to

1. See whether we can get rebooked on another flight to Xi'An on that same day, otherwise the Airline has to put us up in a hotel for the night.
2. Get another letter to prove our onward connection was cancelled
3. Retrieve our luggage (they were supposed to be checked through... where were they now??)

Rebooking to a later flight
Fortunately, the counter reservation staff said that he could book us on the last flight going to Xi'An, which was MU 522 departing 2110.  We needed 2 seats in Business class, and there were 2 available.

Letter
We also had to find the Duty Domestic Manager (different from reservations) to get another cancellation letter for the missed flight.  This time, it looked like this.

For good measure, my wife took a photo of the departure board - MU 2162 to Xi'An, dep 1730hrs, was cancelled.  Why the sudden cancellation?  Frankly I have no idea.  No reasons were given to us either.  Well, cancellations were not uncommon, so the ground staff we spoke to didn't seem surprised.

Retrieving our Luggage, returning back to Baggage Claim area 
What about our luggage? The duty manager told us to go back to the Arrivals Hall, and find the entrance back into the restricted area.  The guard there asked us (in mandarin of course) why we wanted to go back in.  We had to explain to him that our flight was now cancelled (showed him our boarding pass for the flight that was cancelled) and we had to go back to the luggage area to collect our luggage.  He let us in without any problems.

Once inside, we headed to the China Eastern office, and there was a short queue to see the staff.  One staff told us to go back to the baggage claim carousel for MU 566 to check if our bags were there first, before coming back to see him if we couldn't find our bags.  So I went to the luggage claim area and thankfully, both our bags were still there. So it appears that the Airline would send the bags out to the luggage claim area, even though they were checked all the way through originally, because the Airline could tell that the flight had been cancelled.

Check whether your onward flight is cancelled when you arrive
In retrospect, what we should always do next time (if we fly through Shanghai) is to check whether our onward flight was still running, before we leave the luggage area.  If indeed our onward flight had been cancelled, then we would need to collect our bags from the luggage carousel anyway.

No meal vouchers?
We had also earlier asked whether the Airline would provide meal vouchers to cover the time in between. One staff at reservations counter in the public area said we had to get them from the baggage claim area!  But when we checked with the staff at the baggage claim area, they said that there was no need to provide vouchers for us because we could gain access to the Business class lounge.  But we explained that the staff earlier said that we could only check in 3 hours before departure!  The supervisor at the baggage claim area looked at us incredulously and said there was no such rule.  Anyway, he got his staff to make a call somewhere, and confirmed with us that we could check in and use the lounge.  The time was about 1500hrs and our flight MU 522 wasn't departing till 2110hrs.

Checking in for MU 522 dep 2110 to Xi'An
And after we got our luggage, we had to bring everything back to Departure area, and look for the check-in counters.  China Eastern has a separate area for premium customers at the far end of the terminal for Domestic check-in, near the domestic check-in security counters.  When we got there, there were no queues.  The counter staff looked a bit stressed though.  He had to call his supervisor to verify that he could check us in for the MU 522 flight (without imposing any additional charges on us).  We had to explain to him (and showed him all our boarding passes) that it was not our fault that we were in this predicament. Surely, the Airline had to send us to our final destination!  He was rather apologetic and explained that this issue straddled several departments, so he had to check.  Finally, he was given the green light to check us in for the MU 522 flight, departing 2110 for Xi'An.  Well, the good news was that it now looked like we would be able to get to Xi'An after all!

China Eastern Shanghai Pudong Domestic Business Class Lounge
Clearing security was smooth (hardly any line) and we headed straight to the Domestic terminal lounge.  Here is the video of the lounge experience.  This lounge is not to be confused with the Business Class lounge for international departures.  This was the business class lounge in the Domestic section of Terminal 1 at Shanghai Pudong.


Thankful that all issues were sorted
Thankfully we sorted out all the issues with our onward flight, and since the departure to Xi'An was now 2110hrs, we had plenty of time.  I recall when we got to the lounge it was only around 1630hrs.  Never mind, it was time to rest and get some food! I went straight for the noodles, which was very comforting.  Also had a glass of white wine, which wasn't too bad.  Took a nap, and then woke up to eat dinner.  They started dinner service at about 1730hrs and there was rice, with some meat and veggies.  I must say that the food was all very local, and not international oriented.  But it worked for us since our Singaporean tastebuds were somewhat similar to the local Shanghai cuisine that was being served. (or put in another way, we weren't fussy eaters!)

Boarding Announcements were made
There were boarding announcements and indeed, we waited till our flight was announced to be ready for boarding, then we left for the departure gates.  Upon reaching the gate, we realised that we had to be bussed to the airplane.  This was our first bus experience in Shanghai (when we arrived, it was an aerobridge).

Premium passengers get to board a separate mini-bus.  When we got to the boarding gate, general boarding had already begun.  So what you do is to go right to the front of the line (yes, cutting queue!), show your boarding passes and they will let you through first.   Of course, other passengers in line may give you stares, but so be it!

When you get to the bus bay, board the small bus (enough seats for all) and not the big one.  Since we all had seats, the bus ride to the plane would be comfortable.

Arrival at Remote Stand
When the bus arrived at the remote stand, other passengers were already boarding (Economy passengers who had arrived via an earlier bus).  No hurry to board.   The weather was good that evening, however, if it was raining, I think most of us would get wet!

Once boarded, we quickly settled into our seats on this cosy Airbus A321.  There were only 3 rows of Business class seats in a 2 by 2 configuration.  Thank God there was space for us!

Flight MU 522 Shanghai to Xi'An Flight Review
Check out my flight review video of this 1hr 50min flight below.  I titled this video 2 Tarts and 5 Fruit Slices because we were literally served this light snack of 2 tarts and 5 fruit slices on this flight!  Wow.  Granted that this was only a 1hr and 50 minute flight, one would still have reasonably expected some type of supper.

Well, you have been warned... eat your dinner before you get on-board!  Thankfully, I had my fill in the lounge.  We arrived in Xi'An slightly ahead of schedule, but we had to take a bus from the airplane to the terminal.  That took a bit of time, but by this time, we were just going with the flow.  At least we made it to Xi'An!



Conclusion
Well, this wraps up our exciting China Eastern Airlines Business Class adventure, from Singapore to Shanghai, onward to Xi'An.

This was our first time onboard China Eastern Airlines in any class.  Overall, the actual Business class product was very decent given what we had paid.  However, what wasn't so fun was all the delays and hiccups.  First, out of Singapore (9 hour delay), and then the onward flight getting cancelled only when we arrived in Shanghai, and the fact that we were pretty much on our own in terms of trying to sort out the luggage and re-booking.  We were literally running from department to department within the same airport, from restricted baggage area (level 1) out to public check in area (level 3), back to restricted baggage area to retrieve bags and again to domestic check-in area.  Felt like we knew the airport very well after this experience!

Thank God my wife spoke excellent Mandarin and she could navigate her way through the China Eastern system.

We got to our destination safe and sound, so can't complain.  Yes, we were supposed to have landed in Xi'An at 0930hrs on 18 May and we ended up arriving only at 2350hrs, i.e. 14+ hours behind schedule.  We lost a day of sight-seeing, but hey, at least we made it.  We went on to have a very fun holiday in Xi'An, and would fly back to Singapore some days later.

We are in the process of claiming travel insurance.  Will update again when I get news on whether the claim is successful!

Thanks for reading and watching my videos!

Day 4 - Transfer to Shanghai Marriott City Center, and the Bund!

Day 0 - Depart Singapore to Hangzhou (Scoot Airlines), Arr. Hangzhou 2135hrs
Day 1 - Hangzhou, got a driver, tour the city, including West Lake and Ling Yin Temple
Day 2 - Depart from Hangzhou to Wu Zhen (water town), and then transfer to Shanghai Courtyard Marriot near Disneyland
Day 3 - Shanghai Disneyland! (One full day)
Day 4 - Transfer to Shanghai Marriott City Center, the Bund and Hai Di Lao Dinner!
Day 5 - Private day tour to SuZhou
Day 6 - Shanghai Free & Easy
Day 7 - Home sweet Home - Shanghai to Singapore on Singapore Airlines (Business Class)

Day 4 of our 2018 China trip. After a fun day at Disneyland, and a good stay at the Shanghai Courtyard International Tourism and Resorts Zone, it was time to head to central Shanghai for the last segment of our holiday.

We hailed a taxi using the Didi app, to take us from Courtyard Shanghai International Tourism and Resorts Zone to Marriott Shanghai City Center.  The distance was about 30km and it took us about 45 minutes to get there.  Fortunately, the highways were quite clear, though there was minor congestion closer to the City center.

Multiple Mobile Phone Array
A highlight of the journey was the taxi driver's array of mobile phones.  He had 4 facing him, plus an additional phone in this pocket!  He told me that in the past, he had 8.  Why so many?  To access all the various ride hailing apps, to snatch for business as fast as he could.   He also told me that the Apple iOS phones were a tad faster than the Android ones.  His apple phones got the notification about 1 second earlier than Andriod phones, so he used old Apple phones to snatch business.  Fascinating. In the video below, you will hear me trying to converse with the driver in my poor Mandarin.  At least he understood most of what I said, and could tell us long stories about Shanghai.

The video also shows you some of the scenes from our ride into Shanghai City Center.


Here is a picture of the driver looking at one of his phones.  This being China, the taxi drivers won't speak English.  You need know some Mandarin to be able to communicate with them.  We went by the metered fare, and the total fare came up to around 150RMB, or 23USD for a 30km ride.  Already, taxi fares in Shanghai are considered the most expensive in all of China.  For those of us who are used to taxi fares in Western countries, such a fare is still very reasonable for the distance travelled.

Shanghai Marriott Hotel City Center
We chose this hotel because of its location, near Nanjing Road.  Also, the reviews were excellent.  While not exactly the cheapest, the hotel offered a Family Suite, and we could add an additional pull-away bed so that all of us had proper bedding.   And we certainly had no regrets!  The Family Suite was awesome, as shown in the video below.  The suite had a separate living and bedroom area.  The living area could take 2 super singles, and still have room to walk around.


More pictures below of the lobby area.  It was a grand lobby.  It was also a bustling lobby.  Very busy at times, especially during the peak check-in hours.

They had 5-6 general counters opened. The line could get long, but things moved along fine.  Efficient service.

Internal water feature, next to the bar area, which served drinks and food.  Welcome to Marriott Shanghai City Center!

Walk to Huang He Road 黄河路 for Lunch
After putting our bags and washing up, we decided to take a short walk to Huang He Lu (黄河路), literal translation is Yellow River Road.  It was about a 5 minutes walk (500M) and there was plenty of local food on this street.  We headed to a famous chain called Yang’s Dumplings 小杨生煎
(http://www.xysjg.com/), as we had read a lot of about it.


Pan-fried pork buns (生煎包)
The patrons were largely local.  Most were eating the Pan-fried pork buns (生煎包) Tasty, moist pork wrapped with half-soft, half-crispy dough, Shanghai pan-fried pork buns, traditionally served as breakfast, make a great party food.

Some food pictures.

57 RMB for Our Lunch (4 pax)
Here was the bill.  The total was 57RMB (or 9 USD) for 2 servings of Pan-fried pork buns (生煎包), 2 bowls of soup noodles, one bowl of soup and one Pepsi Cola.  That's quite a lot of food for under USD 10.  Each serving of 生煎包 came with 4 pieces and only cost 8RMB.

Dessert at McDonald's

It was a good lunch.  After that, we took a walk back to the hotel, and beside the hotel there was a McDonald's!  Time for some dessert.  We had two Sundaes which came with Fried Dough Sticks, a layered cake, and some coffee.  The fried dough sticks looked like Churros.  Well, maybe they were!  Certainly they were fried, and made of dough.  Dip it into the ice-cream, and the dessert became very filling! 

Nanjing Road Shanghai 南京路
It was time to do some walking!  It turned out that Nanjing Road was just a stone's throw away, 3 minute walk max.  Wow.  This shows you how centrally located this hotel was.  We would try to walk all the way to the Bund.   It was a very pleasant walk, and the street wasn't very crowded during this time of the day.  Very nice.


Shanghai Bund
It didn't take us very long to get to the Bund.  The viewing area was awesome!  Check it out! There was a couple taking wedding photos.  Happy marriage!For a century, the Bund has been one of the most recognizable symbols and the pride of Shanghai. The architecture along the Bund is a living museum of the colonial history of the 1800s. You've never been to Shanghai if you haven’t seen the Bund.


We took the touristy tram back, on a one-way ride, along Nanjing Road.  The cost was 5RMB per person.  Saved us a lot of walking!  Let's go!


Later that evening, we had dinner at Hai Di Lao. I spotted the restaurant by chance as we were heading back to the hotel from the Bund.  This was my first time at Hai Di Lao.  This chain has also expanded to Singapore.  Thanks for following along!

Day 2- Wu Zhen 乌镇 Water Town, Courtyard Shanghai International Tourism and Resorts Zone (by Marriott) near Shanghai Disneyland

China Trip 2018

Day 0 - Depart Singapore to Hangzhou (Scoot Airlines), Arr. Hangzhou 2135hrs
Day 1 - Hangzhou, got a driver, tour the city, including West Lake and Ling Yin Temple
Day 2 - Depart from Hangzhou to Wu Zhen (water town), and then transfer to Shanghai Courtyard Marriot near Disneyland
Day 3 - Shanghai Disneyland! (One full day)
Day 4 - Transfer to Shanghai Marriott City Center
Day 5 - Private day tour to SuZhou
Day 6 - Shanghai Free & Easy
Day 7 - Home sweet Home - Shanghai to Singapore on Singapore Airlines (Business Class)

Today was Day 2, we leave Hangzhou!  Before that, we had a nice buffet breakfast at the Holiday Inn, and the video is below.


Today we would be using the same driver from yesterday, who met us punctually at the agreed time.  It helped that we had WeChat and could communicate with him.  The ride to Wu Zhen took more than an hour, but time flew by as we were playing mobile games on our phones.

Wu Zhen 乌镇
Wuzhen is one of the six famous ancient water towns south of the Yangtze River. It’s within the triangle formed by three top tourist cities: Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Suzhou. It has charmingly restored architecture and canals. Though some people complain about its commercial atmosphere, restored buildings, and the crowds, the charm and the elegance of this ancient water town is undeniable. We first toured Wu Zhen East.  It was crowded!  Check out the scenes in the video below.


There were many tour groups, of local (Mainland China) tourists. I found the signage below to be funny.  This was called an Ancient Tree of Wu Zhen East District.  But the age is merely 45 years? Maybe that is ancient by Chinese tree standards.  Anyway....

From East to West 乌镇
From the East, we headed to the West. The drive took about 15 minutes.  The Western part was much bigger, with boutique hotels.  People stayed for 1 or 2 nights here.  Before you entered the Water Town proper, you had to go through these gates.  We had bought a combined ticket earlier (when we visited the Wu Zhen East).  A combination of modern and ancient, made this place feel a bit like a theme park.  We used the toilets before we entered.  They were large and clean.  Very good.

Wu Zhen Video
Video of our exploratory walk of 乌镇 Wu Zhen West.  When we entered, I didn't realise that there was a free ferry (human powered) to bring us across to the otherside. We followed the footpath, but that turned out to be a good thing because we got to see the impressive Wu Zhen theatre.  Check that out in the video below.  The video also shows us taking the free ferry on our way out.  It was a purely human powered boat.  Two men using long bamboo sticks to punt.  One more using some type of rudder cum paddle at the rear.


Lunch at KFC
We walked around a bit, but as it was lunch time, and we couldn't find any place to eat that we liked, we decided to cut short our walk (after seeing enough of the place) and get back to the entrance.  Kids wanted lunch, and the safest place to bring them for lunch was KFC.  So we headed back to 乌镇 
East and settled our lunch at a KFC there.


Transfer to Courtyard Marriott Shanghai
The full name was Courtyard Shanghai International Tourism and Resorts Zone.  It is located at the outskirts of Shanghai, about 20 minutes from Pudong International Airport.  The reason for us staying here was Disneyland!  We would be here for 2 nights.  The transfer from Wu Zhen to Courtyard Marriott took about 2 hours.  This time round, all of us took a nap, while our good driver drove us safely to our destination.  The roads were very smooth, and most of the time we were on the highway.  No speeding.  I figured that my driver would get a speeding ticket if he went too fast.  Cameras were everywhere! Elegant sign.  Our check in was very smooth and easy.  The hotel didn't seem full.

Peppa Pig Room
We had a very good laugh when we walked into our "Camping Room". Here is why.  It was hilarious!  We tried fitting into the tent.  Didn't work very well (legs sticking out), but they, it was fun.


Some more pictures of the room. A nice touch was that the Mini-Bar in the hotel room was complimentary.  Granted, there wasn't much in there, but still, a nice touch.

What was in the Mini-Bar?  Pepsi, Seven-Up, some nuts and Coconut Juice. Coke, Seven-Up.  The Coconut Juice wasn't the clear type we had in Singapore.  It was milky.  I would call it Coconut milk.

What to eat?
Now we had an issue.  It was close to dinner time.  What to eat?  The immediate vicinity of the hotel did not have anything.  It was pretty much in the middle of nowhere, no shops, no restaurants, no malls.  The hotel itself had a restaurant (or two) but we were sure that the prices would be quite steep, so we didn't even check them out.  The hotel website said that this place was 900M to Shanghai Disneyland, but that is as the bird flies.  Going by vehicle, it was quite far (you had to go up a bridge), and the distance was probably more than 2km.  So we decided to take a taxi.  My wife used her DiDi app to call for a taxi.  Yeah, she's quite amazing, she has all these Chinese apps loaded.


Shanghai DisneyTown
From the taxi stand, it took about 5 minutes to walk to DisneyTown.  Good atmosphere.  Decided to walk around to check out the various eateries.  Found out that they had a BreadTalk which was co-located with ToastBox.  Food Republic, a Singapore Food Court operator, also had a sizable presence there.  Check out the video below.


Dinner at DonDonYa
After a brief walk, we settled with DonDonYa, an eatery selling Japanese inspired food.  They had sets for 65RMB, which looked to be of decent value. So we had 3 sets and then went over to Food Republic to buy some Shanghai Dumplings (takeaway).  We took a taxi (from the official line) back to Courtyard, cost was 20RMB.


This ends Day 2 of our tour. We would have a good rest this evening, and head out to Shanghai Disneyland tomorrow!  Thanks for following along!

DragonAir Shanghai to Hong Kong June 2012 上海 香港

上海A good flight from Shanghai to Singapore.

This time, this leg was operated by DragonAir, a wholly owned CX subsidiary.

Shanghai Pudong Airport - a huge place.

A Lufthansa 747.

They had a small kiddy playground, good for young children.

A sprawling terminal indeed!

American Airlines - One World Livery.

See the DragonAir plane behind?  That would be our ride to Hong Kong.

The DragonAir plane.

Turning into the gate.  A Continental Plane at another gate.

On board - the Dragonair Story.  They are a subsidiary of CX.  Honestly, I had never heard of them, but they turn out to be rather good!

This was an Airbus A330.

Menu for the meal service.  It came in a card.  How interesting!  They even had Haagen-Dazs Ice Cream on such a short flight.  The main course of Sauteed Diced Beef with Black Pepper Sauce and Steamed Rice was supposedly from some famous restaurant.

The opposite side, in mandarin.

This was the child's meal - impressive!  They even bothered to make a bear bun,

Another shot.

Loved that bun.  So cute, but soon to be eaten up by my kid.

Food for the children.  It was quite tasty too.

Nice cup.

Another shot of the same cup.

Oh dear... oh dear....only the head left..... (kid had to show me, for effect)

Cold prawns. (from kid's meal)

Dessert! (from kid's meal)

Adult's meal.  If you noticed, the kid's meal had more stuff, plus a fancy bear bun.

This was the highlighted dish in the menu.  Tasted was pretty good.  Had a glass of red wine to go along.

Upon arrival at Hong Kong, we had a 2 hour layover for our flight back to Singapore.  Some pictures of the airport.

On board the CX B777-300ER back to Singapore.

Adult's meal.

The food on the DragonAir flight tasted better!

For the kids.

Safe travels!

More reviews:
1) Check out the Big Yella Fella at FlyScoot (Sydney to Singapore)

2) Care for the Austrian Arrow? (Helsinki to Vienna)

3) Evergreen Shanghai to Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific.

4) Awesome Air Asia (Singapore to Bangkok).

5) Swiss Flight Links

a) Singapore to Rome (via Zurich) Economy Class, Nov 2013

b) Rome to Singapore (via Zurich) Economy Class, Dec 2013

6) Singapore Airlines SQ 322 Singapore to London (Business Class).

7) Celebrity Silhouette Mediterranean & Adriatic Seas Cruise in Nov 2013