Introduction
Now the journey back home begins. I did book the first section a day before so I could spend a bit more in actual Shanghai.
A brief report on a high-speed train from Xi'an North to Beijing West is available in the Tourism Bonus at the end.
Enchainement de vols
- 1
- 2
- 3MU5164 China Eastern A321: Beijing PEK – PVG Shanghai
- 4
Capital airport is easily reached from the city centre by the Express train, which has 3 stops in the city and 2 at the airport. The one way journey costs 25 RMB (~3.30 €) and takes around half an hour from Dongzhimen, in the inner loop, to Terminal 2. The train has comfortable seats, as well as USB charging ports and even baggage straps.
Departure: PEK T2
The airport express station has a bright and modern design, which is quite the contrast with the aging interior of the terminal building.
At the airport, there is a brief security check before entering the Departures area. Today doesn't seem a busy day, as there is almost no queue for check-in. The check-in agent informs me that they cannot issue my boarding pass for PVG-AMS yet, so I will have to queue up again at PVG tomorrow. From what I understood, they might have been able to issue it if it were a same-day departure.
The main security check is also quick, 7 minutes from the queue to the airport. Again, all passengers are patted down.
The waiting area has a good amount of shops, as well as drinking water fountains. Sometimes they also have cool water, in addition to hot and room temperature. There is no issue finding free seats, and there are a few charging zones; though none with universal sockets.
There are frequent announcements in Mandarin and English, both regarding flights and cabin baggage regulations. They explicitly mention that MU allows a small underseat bag, which contradicts what I was told in SHA…
Boarding starts a bit ahead of time, and there is no issue with my backpack.
Airline: China Eastern Airlines
Flight: MU5164
Model: Airbus A321
Registration: B-6925 (China)
Age: 12 years
Flight: China Eastern A321
Today I sit in 44A, a window seat on the port side of the forward Economy cabin. Though this A321 does not have mid-cabin lavatories.
The padding feels nicer than the previous flight, though it may be my imagination. A real difference is the presence of adjustable headrests. The legroom is still very generous, for a short haul flight. Note that my water bottle is making the pocket look larger than it should.
The entertainment again consists of an audio port on the armrests, though this time a movie plays on the overhead screens. There, there are also individual reading lights and air vents.
Class: Economy (T)
Includes: 1x meal, 1x cabin bag, 1x checked bag.
Seat: 44A
Price: ~580 € (Multi-city trip)
Ancillaries (this segment only): None.
The cabin lights were remained dimmed for 25 minutes after takeoff, when the meal service started. And even though this flight is at a similar length and time of day as SHA-XIY, this time we get a full tray with a hot meal:
-The mini-chips on the left taste alright, they're good in combination with the chili sauce below them. The sauce is especially tasty, with an aroma that reminds me of habaneros.
-The main consists of breaded fish with some vegetables, and wood-ear mushrooms below them, with rice on the side. It is tasty and filling, though the texture leaves a bit to be desired.
-There is fresh fruit, consisting of juicy cantaloupe and decent watermelon. There is also some sort of lychee gelatin, which tastes alright. The yogurt is sweetened but otherwise not "flavored" as the packaging says.
For drinks, I ask for the pre-brewed green tea. I suspect the jars were mixed up and not cleaned from the previous flights, as the tea reeked of coffee.
The rear lavatory was very clean even at the end of a flight near the end of the day.
The flight is mostly calm until the descent, when it gets rather bumpy. From my window seat there is a far away view of the Huangpu river and the city lights surrounding it.
Route: Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) – (PVG) Shanghai Pudong International Airport
Great Circle distance: 1098 km
Flight length: ~1300 km
Flight time: 1h 51m
Delay on arrival: -30 minutes (early)
Arrival: PVG T1
From landing to the gate there are 10 minutes of taxi. From there, it's another 7 minutes until I step out of the aircraft.
Fortunately, domestic arrivals are much easier so it takes me a total of 20 minutes from landing to leaving the Arrivals area towards the metro station. As it is quite late, the Maglev no longer runs so I take the metro; around an hour to the city center.
Thanks and image credits
Thank you for reading this report! I would've enjoyed to make this journey by train but this way the prices were much lower.
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Photography: Own work
Maps: Google
Flight route: Flightradar24
