A trip to PVG on CX using QFF points

[Hvr]

Well let’s get this TR underway. In Jan/Feb. I did a Circle Asia Trip including a visit to Beijing and Harbin. When I got my China visa I applied for and received a dual entry visa with the expectation I would visit Guangzhou whilst in HKG. It never happened, so rather than waste a visa I redeemed a flight to PVG. The only flights I could find were on CX so my routing is CBR-MEL (paid QF Y), MEL-HKG-PVG (redemption CX Y), PVG-XIY-PVG (paid CA F), PVG-HKG-MEL (redemption CX J) and MEL-CBR (paid QF Y).

I departed CBR on Thursday 03 June QF821 2045-2150, a bog basic flight and upon arrival I walked across to the Holiday Inn where I spent a comfortable few hours until I rocked up for my 0740 flight on CX134. I had checked in on-line 48 hours previously and dropped off my bag at the CX business counter and was treated wonderfully. Luggage was priority tagged through to PVG and I was given a priority immigration pass which wasn’t required because there wasn’t anybody in line. The seats I had chosen at redemption time were retained.

As I walked through security the guard looked at my carry on suitcase and decided it looked too heavy. A quick trip to the scales and it weighs in at more than 11kg. I tell him that I have my cameras and a laptop in it and he agrees that it is ok to travel. It is a small Antler single pole case with AFF and QF Gold tags.

I went through duty free and purchased the alcohol for my return, as many here know I am a teetotaller but my family do enjoy it so why let the allowance go to waste?

I then headed off to the CX lounge for breakfast. Fruit and toast with Vegemite filled the gap. I haven’t been here before and it was an experience not all unpleasant.


About 20 minutes before boarding was due to commence I went out to the gate to find out the process. Essentially there wasn’t one. Once the elderly and children boarded it was open slather. So I jumped in a queue and went to my seat (38H). The seat is incredibly unimpressive with the seat belt airbag and no reclining. My seat mate is a short Chinese bloke returning home after doing a diploma at Deakin. He is the perfect seat mate, quiet and non-intrusive. Couple of words at the beginning and then essentially silent.


As the flight goes on I watch some stuff on the seat back television and eat the food. Basic airline food with nothing outstanding in two services. However, the worst part of the flight is the two screaming babies. There was barely a minute when at least one of them wasn’t screaming. When I eventually wanted to have a bit of a snooze I wandered to the back of the plane and found an FA and asked for ear plugs. The plane wasn’t totally full and people on the inner rows generally had the middle seats free. I didn’t really enjoy my trip in the CX A330B Y. The seat is horrid with little room to get into a comfortable position. I’m not small but am glad that I have shed 30kg in the previous year.

Eventually we land at HKG and it is time to transfer. Bear in mind everybody going through this process has gotten off a plane and is moving towards another plane. However we have to go through the full security and identification charade. Still it doesn’t take too long and I get through and find my next gate and the closest lounge. Some food and internet and it is time to board another plane and head to PVG.

 

[Hvr]

One interesting thing about CX BPs, they have the lounge invitation printed with the BP or if issued at the desk it is a separate card. When I checked in at MEL the lady noted I had lounge entry with my QF (SG) status and told me where the CX lounge was located. When I entered the MEL CX lounge I showed my BP and was warmly welcomed as I was in HKG at the Pier.



Eventually it is time to move towards the gate for my trip to PVG. Not a full plane and I am in 32H with an empty middle seat and a woman next to the aisle. She speaks 2-3 words of English and I speak about the same in Chinese. Still we have an interesting conversation on the flight. Although before we start the flight the air conditioning isn’t working and we leave about 30 minutes late, something which will happen on every flight from now on until I am back in HKG.

We are offered drinks before we leave because it is getting a bit warm in the cabin but not unbearable. We finally take off and have an enjoyable trip, it is not the A330 plane and with a free middle seat it is actually quite comfortable for the short trip. Upon arrival Y pax are held back until all the J pax have departed and then off we get. Fairly quick departure and the long fast walk to immigration. Not many non-Chinese people on this flight so the foreign visitor immigration lines are very quick. I see a series of ratings buttons on the front panel for the officer and noting how quickly I am processed give the highest rating.


Suitcase is off quickly with the priority tags and time to head to through customs, quickly waved through and time to head to the MagLev. I see a tourist desk and ask about using the subway to my hotel, The Baron Bund I'm told to take exit number 3 at Nanjing Road East Station on line 2. The MagLev is magnificent and quickly gets to 300km/h. A few minutes later we are in Shanghai and a quick walk across the road to the subway station where I take a couple of minutes to work out how to pay and find my train. Through the security check, I get the feeling that if possible foreigners would be waved around but with a large suitcase not really viable.

A quick trip and I alight at my station, find the right exit and of course take the wrong turn. Still I have my Agoda booking with the address in Chinese and am soon pointed in the right direction. Upon arrival there appears to be some confusion about my booking but after a phone call by the front desk staff and an apology for the delay I am checked in. The room has everything I want, a bath, bed and internet included, it is clean and feels safe. So time for bed and get ready for exploring the next day.

 

[munitalP]

LOL, you are bringing back fond memories of Shanghai at Christmas... hurry up with your next installment PLEASE!!!





munitalP

 

[Hvr]

Thanks muintalP, here we go:



The hotel is close to the Bund and I enjoy walking around and taking photos. Shanghai is very smoggy and daytime isn’t the best for photography but I persevere. As I walk around enjoying the sites I am hit by the scammers, a single white, middle aged male seems to be fair game. Still I know what they are trying having been subject to much the same in Beijing in January.

The tea shop scam is a bit more subtle here and takes a bit longer to get to the punch line. However when it comes and I am asked if I have been to a tea ceremony I respond, yes in Beijing and that it cost me a lot of money. They seem genuinely disappointed that they were beaten to the punch. They were in a fashion; the internet saved me from this scam. Almost all the perpetrators of this scam claimed to be from other areas of China visiting Shanghai for Expo.

I also had the poo on the shoe trick when a bloke who looked like he was 99 not out bent down and put something on my shoe and wanted to clean it off. I refused to let him and walked away loudly berating him as a bad man. Don’t know what it was but it wiped off quickly with no ill effects.

However, mention must be made of the Expo volunteers. There are dozens of stands around the city where these uniformed volunteers will provide directions, advice etc. They take great pride in their role and I used them a lot without once ever being scammed or put upon to buy something or feeling uncomfortable. Once I asked them how to get back to my hotel and they gave me fairly explicit instructions. But as someone who can get geographically embarrassed anywhere I got lost and actually ended up back near the same stand. As I walked up one of them said (in English) to a colleague “he’s back” with a look of amazement on his face. They again tried to explain the route to me but realising I can get lost in my bathroom actually walked me back to my hotel.

Anyway as sunset draws closer I make sure I am on the riverside with camera and tripod to get a good position to photograph the television tower et al. For some reason a lot of people want to be photographed with me. I get young women coming up and giving their cameras to friends to take a photo. Lots of photos taken by them and in some cases I get them to take me with the women with my IXUS camera. All the time keeping a very close eye on my other camera gear. At one stage two women came up together wanting a photo, I smiled and said “this is great, two women”. Someone translated for the crowd and there was hilarious laughter.

I actually found that I was a popular model and for some reason people wanted to be photographed with me. When I was visiting Shanghai railway station I was taking a photo and a man came and stood near me while his wife took the photo. I saw this and called him over, we shook hands while his wife took a photo. They thanked me profusely. Immediately afterwards a woman came over to me, handed me her baby and took a photo of me and baby.

Anyway back to my photography, as sunset came I got some good photos as did the hundreds of thousands of people around me. The area was packed but I wasn’t jostled or bumped. People were there for a good time. Also there was security everywhere and if you did the most minor thing wrong then the whistle blew and you were told to stop. It worked. Eventually it was time to go back to the hotel and just followed the crowd. A long day but a rewarding one seeing the sights.




Monday 7 June was spent at Expo. I caught the train there and deliberately exited at Gate six where the Chinese pavilion is located. Big mistake, half of Shanghai was there trying to enter. It took more than an hour to get through the gates, it was a crush load and the police/security guards were screaming at people to stay still etc.

Still eventually got through and into Expo. Entry to the Chinese pavilion is very hard and the reserved tickets are given out early in the morning. So I headed to the Chinese provinces pavilion and was the only westerner there looking at the sights. At the Shen Yang stand I was pulled aside and asked if I wanted to be interviewed for their evening news. I did this and was rewarded with two decks of playing cards branded with Expo logo.

After this I went to the Australian pavilion and waited for about an hour to get in, there was a sign saying the wait would be about three hours and I am glad it wasn’t that long. Not really impressed with the Australian pavilion, nothing spectacular, just loud and vision of three cartoon children, an Anglo boy, a girl of Chinese descent and a girl of Aboriginal descent talking about the future and their role in shaping it. All in Chinese with sub titles. The screen was round and shaped around the stage in the middle and the middle bit changed and was revealed when the screens sunk. There was a lot of (ironic?) cheering at a huge quarry explosion.

Nothing of any real substance but it seemed to go down ok so I guess they know their audience. Expo is by the Chinese for the Chinese which means there is very little in English. It can be hard finding out what is happening in the sessions.

Next off to the Thai pavilion, next to the Australian one and again in the queue for about an hour. They had different presentations and moved the crowd through fairly well, lot more English in their presentations.

Then off to the Danish pavilion to see the little mermaid on her first ever trip out of Denmark. She is hugely popular. Another hour long wait got in and got to see what all the fuss was about. I actually enjoyed this pavilion the most. It wasn’t rushed, was well planned and seemed to flow well. Took heaps of photos and eventually left to rehydrate.

Spent several hours standing up and am feeling exhausted. Had a bit of a rest and am glad that the drinks were cheap. Noting that the Chinese people are the target audience they cannot be priced out of the market. Then there was a parade through the main road which attracted a lot of people. After that I went to the lesser pavilions with no waiting time such as Iran, North Korea, Timor Leste and Lebanon. Nothing really to see at any of them. Then back on the train for the journey home. The Shanghai people could teach Melbournians a thing or two about getting on the train before letting others off. It is hips and elbows all the way and every person for themselves. I’m a bit harder to push around but they try and sometimes succeed.


Next up a flight to XIY in F.

 

[drron]

Mate you must need to bulk up-no one knocked me around despite trying but one or two of them lost their balance.:shock::shock:

 

[KrugBoi]

Hi HVR

Enjoyed reading your trip to Expo. We're planning to go in August - was 1 day enough or would you recommend 2 to see everything (incl the queues!) It sounds like you had quite good luck with the queues. Some friend's parents recently went and they said there were queues of up to 8hrs wait!

 

[Hvr]

Re bulking up, I am currently in losing weight mode so no go there.
I did do another day at Expo on the Friday after I returned from Xi’an. More to report and it’s coming up. I would recommend at least two days at Expo, just not weekends.


So now I am off to Xi’an to see the terracotta warriors. I have allowed two full days here and am glad I have so I can see the sights. First the flight.

I purchased my ticket for this flight on Expedia and when checking the prices in F and Y realised that the difference was not enough to fly up the back. So first class it is. I take the taxi from my hotel to the maglev and show my booking slip and am only charged 40CNY because I am catching a plane at the other end.

Another quick and pleasant trip and I am at the airport, head toward T2 and the China Air first class check in desk. There are a couple of people ahead of me but soon enough I am issued my BP and some tickets. I head over to the security queue and show my BP at the F line and am let in ahead of the other pax to join a screening queue. A few seconds later the guard comes over, asks to see my BP and ushers me over to the vacant VIP/F queue where no one is waiting. He apologises for sending me to the wrong area. A few seconds later I am through and there is an electric buggy waiting for me. I am asked for my ticket and then whisked off to gate 90 where the F lounge awaits. This is my first ever ride in a buggy at an airport and I enjoyed it.

Upon arrival I show my BP and lounge ticket and sit down to enjoy and await my flight. It is a basic lounge up the escalator with some food and drink and a view over the concourse. However, it is my first *A Flounge experience and my AFF tags were on my carry on bag. I didn’t see if there were any computers or internet access and just enjoyed the view.

It is soon time to board and I head towards gate 97 and seeing some people going up to the front of the queue follow them, show my F BP and am welcomed aboard. The FA sees my BP and escorts me to seat 2C where there is, horror of horrors a seat poacher. The FA asks to see her BP and then asks me if I would like to move seats. I quietly decline and the seat poacher moves to 1A. The man in 2A just looks away like he doesn’t want to know her. However, at the end of the flight I come to think they are a couple by the way they interact as they disembark. I also believe the nanny and children are in the cabin.

I take my seat and we wait. After a little while the FAs come around and individually inform us that we will be about 30 minutes late taking off due to ATC congestion. In the meantime there is a drink and time to read my book. We eventually take off and have a pleasant breakfast en route.

I am really glad I insisted on taking my booked seat because the people on both sides of the aisle in row one have their socked feet very high on the bulkhead, so high I didn’t think it was possible outside of certain types of movies. It was bad enough being in the set behind them, I couldn’t have handled it if I had sat beside them.

Upon arrival at Xi’an my bag comes off very quickly (i.e. first two bags) and I head off to the bus to town. It costs 25CNY and takes about an hour. Upon arrival in Xi’an a policeman comes up to the bus and looks after the luggage compartment. There are a few touts about but not too persistent.

I am staying at Citadines Apart-Hotel Xi’an. It is about 200 metres from the bus stop, and has everything I need. It is clean, has cooking facilities, close to everything, internet included and the staff are friendly. The bed is the standard Chinese slab of concrete but at least the pillows are hard enough. There is a nice large bath which I need with the amount of exercise I am doing.I booked through Agoda and everything went perfectly with the booking.


I am quickly checked in and then go for a walk around town. It is raining and quite grey but I am here to see stuff so out I go. I head over to the Muslim quarter and walk around taking a few photos. There are actually quite a few western tourists about so I don’t stand out like it seemed to in Shanghai. I walk around for a fair while and eventually realise I am actually quite lost. I hail a taxi, show my hotel card and about 10 minutes later am back at the hotel. The traffic is absolutely mad and I still get confused about which way to look when crossing the road.

There is actually a very handy underground walkway which means no crossing roads and this makes it easy to get around this wonderful town. There is a lot more here than just the warriors. There is a bell tower and a drum tower which look spectacular at night and are great to visit, especially to get a view from the town from a height. Buy a combined ticket, it is cheaper than single tickets. The combined ticket is available from either attraction.


The bell tower is actually in the middle of a roundabout and you can only enter via the underground walkway. The exit signs in the walkway are in English and Chinese.


Next, my visit to the terracotta warriors.

 

[Hvr]

I am still writing this albeit slowly. In the meantime here are a couple of photos to whet your appetite.

First up is the Expo mascot Haibo at the MagLev Station proudly standing guard over my carry on luggage displaying my SG and AFF tags.




This photo was taken at Xintiades in PVG, a trendy part of town. It shows that the benefits for WPs are everywhere.

 

[kezsco]

Having lived in Shanghai, really enjoyed reading your TR thus far. Hope the rest comes soon.

 

[tuapekastar]

Great TR Hvr, have enjoyed reading it thus far. You are certainly Mr Popular with the locals when your tripod is out!

The TR makes me want to visit China. Oh, and major congrats on the 30kg drop, something I could use!