Transit to Beijing

Terminals: Modern, Big, Clean & Efficient

Beijing was the seventh Chinese city we visited. By the time we made the trip from Xi'an we were pretty used to the process of traveling in China. There were no more surprises on this leg of the journey.

For the most part, China seems to be pretty good at moving people from point A to point B, especially if you are on the 'beaten path' which Xi'an-Beijing clearly is. Because of the Terra-Cotta Warriors, there are probably more tourists in Xi'an as a percentage of the city's population than anywhere else in China. Xi'an is a pretty small town by Chinese standards (only 3 million, city proper.  Greater Xi'an - 10M) and is visited by pretty much every tourist on a China tour. They know how to get you in and out of town.

Airplane meal served in the terminal during delay

They just don't know how to do it on time, it seems. The trip to the airport was a breeze. The shuttle bus waits at a downtown hotel.  As soon as it fills, it takes off. At 25 Yuan (about $4), it was pretty easy and pretty painless. We got to the airport so quickly we were too early to check in (only two hours before take off). Once that time came it is the usual drill - except that they don't charge you to check a bag or even two, best I could tell. They even let you keep your shoes and belts, but if you need an extra once-over they don't seem to care about gender as regards who will pat you down. You get what you get.

At the gate is where things went south for us.

Consistently. We took three domestic flights within China and for all three of them we experienced significant delays. Each time it was the same cause - delays in air traffic control resulting from heavy traffic. It seems to be a persistent problem.

It's not hard to understand. China has experienced an explosion in domestic air travel by Chinese citizens. We encountered manifestations of it everywhere we went. Of the tourists we saw, (groups are everywhere - all wearing their group hats) the overwhelming majority are Chinese. They are starting to have some disposable income and are spending it on travel. Which explains the high traffic but not the delays. Takeoffs and landings are predictable events. You know how many you will have in any given day. You could build a schedule you could keep. But they don't seem to. We averaged more than an hour delay. Three flights, three delays.