[Anonymous]

[RoadKing]

Hi all

I am doing a trip to China in September, which involves flying from Peking to Xian and then to Shanghai.

I have BA to Peking and out of Shanghai.

I’ve been looking at OW website but I cannot see that they have any member airlines in China, is this correct?

If so, any advises on domestic airlines in China?

[Potakas]

No they don’t have, there are speculations that Hainan Airlines will join OW but will take long time if that happens. If you want to stick with OW your only option is JL, but it is a huge diversion. Only if you are on vacations and you want to visit Japan makes sense.

Can’t comment for any Chinese Airline as I don’t have any experience.

[Flagflier]

Hi Roadking

Try Dragonair, a wholly owned subsiduary of CX (and member of OneWorld)

[ArronZidane]

Only problem with Dragonair would be having to fly to HKG as that is their hub. Just in case you have not travelled internally in China before and especially out of Beijing, be prepared for an average delay of about 1 1/2-2hours due to air traffic congestion

[wannabe]

Hi Roadking, most Chinese domestic airlines are absolutely fine. I have flown on China Southern, China Eastern , Shanghai airlines and Hainan airlines. Stick with these and you will be fine.

Are you booking your tickets in China ? I usually do and it works out cheaper. Plus they give good advice about the airlines there.

Can’t comment about Beijing ATC delays, personally I have never had a bad delay (actually that was a comment !)

Enjoy China, it’s a great country.

[stevescoots]

I have flown in and out of BJ mor times than I can remember, 80% of teh time there are delays of 1-2 hours.

[RoadKing]

I have to say, this forum is excellent. Post a question and you are sure you will receive all the information you need.

Thank you all, for excellent input.

We will prefer to avoid leaving mainland China as we have no visas for reentry.

Given that there are no chance to earn miles with BA, I figure we will do Air China which is flying the triangle and a member of *A, as most people, I have a card in most camps :-).

Had in mind to book online before we go, tempting to save some buck, but as we are a party of 5 with a tight schedule I think I will book online.

We got some spare time in Xian and Shanghai, if someone have suggestions on what to do/see, shoot!

Again, thanks so much for the input 🙂

[newbieflyer]

Good chinese websites to try are ctrip.com and elong.net

[RichHI1]

Flew China Eastern domestic a number of times in 2006 and it was safe and not bad experience (Including PVG-PEK and PVG-XIY. (Airbuses). Be prepared for heat and dust in Xian. The Chinese Mosque is worth seeing as a center of Chinese Muslim culture from the days of the silk route.

[RoadKing]

We booked tickets with China Airlines, although on both legs ( Peking – Xian Boeing 737) and (Xian – Shanghai Airbus 320) it was either subsidiaries or code share. I don’t remember their names.

Both flights were very pleasant, nice lounges at the airports. Check-in was efficient. Security was a walk through and nice lounges.

Overall, a very nice experience.

Walked through the Muslim quarters of Xian, but didn’t visit the Mosque. No problem with heat or dust in Xian as it was pouring down :-).

[RichHI1]

Great, glad you had good time. Did theycover over the warriors yet to stop the mould growth? They were working on that when I went.

[Tom Otley]

I flew China Eastern between Beijing and Shanghai a couple of weeks ago. The review of that flight is here

http://www.businesstraveller.com/tried-and-tested/airlines/china-eastern-airlines/china-eastern-airlines-a330-300-economy-class

[RoadKing]

Yes, they had covered up the most, but left some standing for visitors to enjoy, and they had stopped uncovering others. According to our guide the reason was due to the coloring of the warriors, it was this that couldn’t stand daylight and faded away very quickly.

They were researching methods to preserve the color even in daylight though.

Most impressive was that they have found the emperors grave, and it appears untouched. But they do not dare to open it yet due to risk of traps and of course that the content may deteroriate when it get fresh air. Pity, I would loved to see that.

[RichHI1]

Yes I think the Germans have developed a treatement they can paint on the terra cotta to protect the paint which fades on oxidization. \As regards the emperor there are two stories 1) He was a son of a b*tch and they do not want to disturb his spirit or 2) they now now there are rivers of mercury there and they do not want to cause terrible pollution risk until they learn how to deal with it. Pays your money and takes your choice but hehe wasn’t it fantsatsic?

[Author]

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