Comments on: Anatomy Of A Chinese Airport Rumble

By: Jedi Knight

Jedi Knight — Thu, 01 Aug 2013 01:23:59 +0000

Funniest travel article I’ve ever read. You should compile all your travel travails in a book.

By: Kay

Kay — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 18:43:25 +0000

Hi Matt! I’ve finally returned from China, settled down and was able to read your hilarious article. Wifi internet connection in China was very spotty for us and we were so exhausted I wasn’t able to read your beautifully written A+ article carefully until now. I knew what a good writer you were in first grade and you’ve certainly proven me correct. We didn’t encounter as much trouble with China Eastern, but they cancelled our China Southern flight to Shenzen with extremely little notice causing our poor tour guide to actually show his dismay which he avoided doing throughout our tour. We did finally leave on Sichuan Airlines, thank goodness! Our trip to China was truly memorable and we all had a great time. It’s so exciting to think of you reporting over there!

By: Lukas

Lukas — Tue, 28 May 2013 07:29:06 +0000

Well China Eastern is sh*t, I hate taking them. Almost everytime fly with CES, there is some problem. Also what they did with Shanghai airlines…

By: DSLAM

DSLAM — Fri, 24 May 2013 18:11:38 +0000

This is funny as hell. I’m gonna save it. Great stuff!

By: Rob Schackne

Rob Schackne — Wed, 22 May 2013 17:37:35 +0000

Hey Kevin,
That’s another great nightmare story. What a con!
Cheers,
Rob

By: Kevin Vanier

Kevin Vanier — Wed, 22 May 2013 17:27:09 +0000

This is a great story and nicely written. I’ve traveled a lot in China these past few years and can relate to these shitty airlines. I’ve experienced all of this except for the chair-throwing. What’s funny is that one of the times was even coming out of Ningbo on China Eastern! Hah. They didn’t have a gate until the last twenty minutes and then posted two different gates (one hand-written on a sheet of paper and one on the monitors) on opposite ends of the airport.

The worst was on an Air China flight from Ulaanbaatar to Beijing. It was delayed 14 hours. Everyone at the UB airport said that in BJ they’d set me up a with a hotel. When I got to BJ the staff said it should have been arranged back in UB. Finally some staff (or ‘staff’) from Air China said they’d take me to my hotel for the night and drove me to somewhere in the city. The staff asked to see my passport and then said it was 200Y a night. I complained because it should have been comped and they fumed, “WHAT?! THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A FREE HOTEL!”. I got a driver to take me to the airport and then a friend of his got in the seat behind me and we started off further into the city away from airport. I was scared. I told him actually I would like to stay at the hotel so we turned around and then I took a real cab back to the airport and by the divine blessing of Allah as I was entering the airport I saw my entire flight exiting towards the bus to the real hotel. It took another two hours to make it to the hotel

By: Jean

Jean — Sun, 19 May 2013 02:42:50 +0000

I loved the article – it was very entertaining and I could not stop laughing at some points! I am glad you managed to see the humour in such s vexing situation. I am looking forward to reading more!!

By: Street Smart Traveler

Street Smart Traveler — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:30:15 +0000

Matt, this article was hilarious! I loved your dead-on descriptions of the characters in this wacky tragicomedy. The way you described the “Aunties” and “GoodFellas,” I could imagine those people that I ran into when living in China back in the day.

For me, the interesting part was how Weibo and social media have become the main platform to vent anger. It’s really become the first option to appeal for support.

By the way, I found you via an article in the “One Mile At A Time” frequent flyer blog.

By: Lawrence

Lawrence — Fri, 17 May 2013 05:34:02 +0000

You’re lucky he wasn’t around circa early 90′s.
No seating, no heating (which is a biggie in winter beijing),no signage, no english, floors you didn’t want to put bags onto (spitting was mandatory), as was the layer of smoke that made anything over 3 foot high covered in a silky yellow sheen, including your lungs, and… pretty much the same negative service levels. Ah, the good old days.

By: albert

albert — Fri, 17 May 2013 05:27:02 +0000

A great story being sprinkled with a good sense of humor.

By: Alec

Alec — Thu, 16 May 2013 09:36:36 +0000

Impressively written. Good work, Sheehan.

By: Funky Diabetic

Funky Diabetic — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:15:23 +0000

Very enjoyable read…this is why I opt for the 高铁 or even the overnight 特快…

By: Josh Lewis

Josh Lewis — Thu, 16 May 2013 01:35:08 +0000

Great writing! Fascinating to hear about how well “the customer is always right” goes over in China.

By: Claus Rasmussen

Claus Rasmussen — Wed, 15 May 2013 17:22:14 +0000

Hilarious. And a very well written article.

By: DaXiong

DaXiong — Wed, 15 May 2013 15:12:55 +0000

Very nicely written, and oh-so-familiar. Thanks. “The Aunties and the Goodfellas” Good book title for a novel about China.