Review of China Eastern flight Paris Shanghai in Economy

Airline China Eastern
Flight MU570
Class Economy
Seat 37G
Aircraft Airbus A330-200
Flight time 12:20
Take-off 29 May 15, 20:20
Arrival at 30 May 15, 14:40
MU 173 reviews
marathon
By GOLD 4808
Published on 17th March 2016
This trip was a consequence of the trip to trip to SIN, when we reached Asia some 20 hours later than expected. We eventually met our friends in Singapore, especially two of them that I’ll call Xiaoyang and Juergen. Or more precisely we met again Xiaoyang and were introduced to Juergen, that you can safely guess to be Chinese and German, respectively.

photo IMG_0293a

They had big news for us, related to two dates in the calendar which had not been selected at random, because the numbers 6 and 8 are the luckiest in the Chinese tradition, especially 6 for this kind of event:

"It will be on 6/6 in Taiyuan, China, and 8/8 in Hanover , Germany. We would be pleased to invite you if you can travel.”

How could I consider missing the wedding of Xiaoyang, my favorite among all the young Mandarin teachers I’ve had in PEK and TPE ? I brushed aside my wife’s objections about the geographic, linguistic and cultural distance of TYN and HAJ as seen from CDG, and one week after our flight home, I had bought two open-jaw tickets on MU, that I completed much later with Chinese domestic flights.

photo horaire initial

This long haul routing had several advantages :
- Arrival in PVG, because we wanted to be with friends in Shanghai on Sunday
- Skyteam flights, crediting some (very few) airmiles
- Long haul flights operated by MU, whose 2-4-2 layout in A330 is more comfortable than 3-4-3 in an AF B777
- No additional optional fees which keep creeping in AF fares like with LCCs
- Flight back on Sunday, so that Mrs Marathon could be at work the Monday after the wedding, at the cost of a very short night on Saturday.

This was the final routing, all in Y :

CDG-PVG : MU570, sold as AF3766, A330-200 (YOU ARE HERE)
PVG - CGO : FM8389 (B738) The temples of Kaifeng
CGO - PEK : CA1326 (B738) Mig Alley
PEK - TYN : high speed train
TYN - PVG : MU2402 (B738) Best wishes of happiness !
PVG – CDG : MU569, sold as AF3767, no FR

It seems that all airlines change the schedule of their flights once I bought tickets, and AF is no exception. Six weeks later, AF sent this notice of a change in our flights.

photo horaire révisé

The change was that the departure from CDG and arrival back in CDG were delayed an hour. The flight time had not decreased an hour on the way in and increased an hour on the way back, but MU seemed to have problems with the exotic concept of daily savings time in Europe. Fortunately, we did not need to connect with a domestic flight in France.

Six months elapsed, and I should have not have placed excessive trust with RATP (the Paris mass transit operator). If I had been on their website before leaving home with a comfortable 80 minutes margin for the check-in deadline, I would have avoided connecting at Châtelet les Halles station, because the traffic on the RER B line was stopped between there and the North station (“Gare du Nord”).

There was a plan B, or rather a plan D : take Line D which is parallel to Line B on the section which was closed. We still had a chance to make it.

A long wait on an overcrowded platform, then in spite having luggage, we miraculously managed to climb in an even more overcrowded train full of regular Line D users and stranded Line B users, leaving many more passengers on the platform… but we could possibly make it.

At the North Station, we of course to change levels from Line D to Line B, and we narrowly missed a train towards CDG, but we could still make it.

photo IMG_2797a

Another ten minutes of wait on the platform, but we could still make it.

photo IMG_2798a

The train was not more full than on a Friday evening was of course stopping in each station, but we could still make it.

photo IMG_2799a

We reached the FIDS at the CDG train station at 19:40. RATP (the Paris mass transit authority) had eaten half of our of our margin, but we had made it !

photo IMG_2800a

We made it all the more that we arrived 40 minutes later than expected, but the plane was going to depart 50 minutes later than scheduled.

photo IMG_2801a

But whether the plane is late is not, the check in deadline is unchanged. We used one of these machines. There were not many seats to choose from : one drawback in flying MU with an AF ticket is that AF’s OLCI does not work, and I did not think about trying MU’s website.

photo enregistrement en ligne impossible - réduit

MU had attributed us two central non-aisle seats in the 2-4-2 seat layout, but apart from isolated seats here and there, there was only a single pair of “right of center” seats (one of them an aisle seat), and the last pair of seats with a window in the last row. I was worried by the proximity of the galley and of the toilets, and by the fact that may not recline, so I chose Seats 37G and 37H. They were not very far back, because with MU (and CZ, CA and some other Chinese airlines), the numbering of the Economy seats always starts at Row 30 in the entire fleet.

photo IMG_2802a

Now we had to drop our luggage. Waiting in that line for AF flights?

photo IMG_2803a

No, these were AF tickets, but an MU flight, and we had to go to the next zone. The signage was poor, but there was little waiting. There was a long line for another flight (Flybe, I believe) which made it difficult to move around outside the check in area proper, but the access was nearly direct to the check-in counters.

By the time we had checked-in, the line for that other flight had lengthened so much that it blocked the access to our counters, and it was probable that we then would have had a long wait, or rather that we would have needed to pass in priority in order to make the deadline.

photo IMG_2808a

Check-in was quick and relaxed. “No luggage above 23kg ?“. No, and they were from that limit. The next position’s staff, seeing that I was taking this picture, took a mock pose for fun, even though (or rather because) it was obvious that he was out of the picture.

photo IMG_2806a

Going through the Parafe automated passport + fingerprint booths was fast. I did not remember there was a BP manual check too (maybe a temporary security measure?).

photo IMG_2811a

It took me many flights to Asia to remember that you should not go straight ahead to the obvious security check just behind the passport control, because the access to gates L and M (located in two satellite buildings) is on the left, and you need to turn left to see these signs.

photo IMG_2812a

The escalators from the platform of the people mover.

photo IMG_2816a

A KE A380

photo IMG_2821a

There was not much hope to reduce the delay at departure : passengers were still leaving the MU 332 which was going to fly us to PVG.

photo IMG_2822aphoto IMG_2823a

The screen at Gate 47 left us no illusion about it

photo IMG_2827a

In Chinese, and in French (and English too)

photo IMG_2828a

The plane's number in case you want to check the resume of the aircraft

photo IMG_2825a

An AZ A320 parked at gates K

photo IMG_2826a

Always the same children playground, which an outrageously stereotyped decoration, with the boys’ entrance this way…

photo IMG_2829a

… and the girls’ entrance on the opposite side there:

photo IMG_2830a

It has become a fashion to have a piano for free passenger use – there are two of them in Paris North Station.

photo IMG_2837a

This young passenger was playing classical music with talent.

photo IMG_2835a

… with an Aeromexico 787 as a backdrop

photo IMG_2819a

It was possible to enjoy both the music and the Paris event at that period of the year

photo IMG_2838a

There was the end of the tennis Paris Open Tournament on one of these screens

photo IMG_2839a

The pictograms of the baby care rooms were still feminine.

photo IMG_2842a

A sample of AF’s fleet, just as a reminder : a B 777-300ER

photo IMG_2843a

And an A380-800

photo IMG_2844a

It was not very hot in Paris, but the ground crew found it necessary to open the widows of the A380’s cockpit.

photo IMG_2846aphoto IMG_2847a

There were lots of empty seats in the terminal on that Sunday end of afternoon

photo IMG_2849a

But there were very few power ports : this pair was the only one for the double rwo of seat above.

photo IMG_2850a

An illustration of the rise of Chinese tourism in France: these commercial promotion signs are explicitly targeting them. They were in front of this trinkets shop

photo IMG_2851a

… as well as in front of this jewelry

photo IMG_2852a

Boarding was on time, once the delay was included.

photo IMG_2853a

The not so clean fuselage, before boarding. I find the font used by MU in its logo especially ugly.

photo IMG_2856a

The welcome mat at the entrance of the aircraft

photo IMG_2857a

Going through the J cabin

photo IMG_2858a

And arrival in the first Y cabin

photo IMG_2862a

The detail of the seat’s decoration, with and without anti-macassar

photo IMG_2859aphoto IMG_2860a

It did not show on this picture, but it was possible to fold the sides of the headrest, so that the heads would not roll aside during sleep. This is a non-negligible in Economy where the seat reclining is insufficient for the body to remain straight.

photo IMG_2912a

I did not measure or take a picture of the seat’s recline, but it was decent for Economy.

photo IMG_2861a

The safety card, both sides

photo IMG_2864a

The seat pitch was OK (add around 17 cm for having the distance between the limit of the seat and the magazine pocket of the preceding seat)

photo IMG_2865a

The width between armrests was decent – remember that this was one of my criteria for flying MU rather than AF.

photo IMG_2866a

We are not talking about millimeters of difference : this is the picture that I took in an AF 772 during a CDG-NRT flight:

photo IMG_1240a

A four centimeter difference ! The seat selection that AF was providing for free at ETD-30h did not carry much weight when compared to the comfort differential with MU.

The safety demonstration on the IFE screen was with animator characters. It was first shown in Mandarin with Chinese subtitles (all Chinese languages, including Mandarin are written the same; only the pronunciation differs, often radically).

photo IMG_2868a

And then in English with English subtitles, a lot later and with several glitches, so much so that it was not over yet when we took off.

photo IMG_2871a

I did not have a window seat, so this was all I could give you by way of a sunset. When we woke up, it was very cloudy, as I expected, which justified choosing an aisle seat rather than a window seat.

photo IMG_2874a

The airshow was quite frustrating. The modeling of the terrain looked good,

photo IMG_2876a

… the 332 was accurately represented (with the new livery, but our aircraft had the old one)

photo IMG_2877-2a

… it was possible to pan and zoom with the touchscreen, despite a poor reaction time (you have the landscape and the left wing of the aircraft)

photo IMG_2878a

… but it was impossible to leave the cyclic succession of a single program. It was for instance impossible to display continuously the subjective view, or the flight parameters. I found it really bothersome.

photo IMG_2877a

The tablet deployed in two parts. The second half “opened too much”, and stuff placed on it tended to slip.

photo IMG_2881a

Mine was not fully clean : a food stain had not been removed.

photo IMG_2882a

Distribution of the drinks and food from two trolleys which were nearly next to each other : this was not a case of « Here is the meal and we’ll serve you the drinks ages later », like on some other airlines. Note that three out of four of the fruit juice boxes were Chinese catering.

photo IMG_2883a

This was the result of the first round of FA service

photo IMG_2884a

What was this mini-serving of butter doing alone in that dish which was much loo large for it ?

photo IMG_2888a

It was waiting for a small piece of bread which was to arrive eight minutes later.

photo IMG_2890a

Now the meal was complete. My guess is that this bread was to thick to fit on the trays in the trolley.

photo IMG_2891a

The tray was not very large and slipped easily on the non-horizontal tablet.

photo IMG_2885a

The FAs announce "Fish – rice, or beef noodles ?". I usually avoid the noodles on Chinese flights, because I find them overcooked, but I had forgotten that this plane had taken off from CDG, and that the catering was therefore French. The result was that the rice was overcooked – never trust the French to cook rice the way it should by Far-eastern standards – and the fish was (as usual) soggy. Mrs Marathon chose the other dish which looked better, although the meat seemed so-so. Note that I write “seemed”.

photo IMG_2887a

A detail of the salad which I found uninspired

photo IMG_2889a

I went to the very narrow but clean toilets in the rear. This type of non-slip flooring is quite common.

photo IMG_2892a

The pictogram on the baby care folding table is a feminine as that in CDG.

photo IMG_2893a

There was reclining space behind the seats on the last row, the one I had rejected. I did not see if they could recline, but was told that they typically could too.

photo IMG_2895a

"Shanghai, we have a problem".

Mrs Marathon did not have time to place this call to the FA before disaster struck during my sleep : the beef in her hot dish had apparently been a lot less than so-so. She was not impressed by the reactivity of the FA after depressing the call button, and found it debatable that she simply stole the blanket of another sleeping passenger to replace that of my wife which now contained most of her dinner.

The picture is not very sharp, but the « fasten seat belts » signs remained on during the whole flight after very modest turbulence; this seems to have become the rule on Chinese airlines. And although the lights were switched on three hours before landing, the passengers (80% Chinese) all kept the window shades down.

photo IMG_2897a

A detail of the carpeting, which was reasonably clean. I liked the design.

photo IMG_2899a

This breakfast was served three hours before landing (around half past noon, Chinese time). The three roll son the right were mashed potatoes in bread crumbs.

photo IMG_2900a

Flying above Taiyuan, which was the first and foremost destination of that trip.

photo IMG_2902a

Of course,you can’t have both reasonably wide seats for Economy AND reasonably wide aisles. I found that I would easily bump with anything jutted slightly out: 45 cm is not much for an aisle width, but I lack reference in this regard.

photo IMG_2905a

Two hours before landing, the IFE proposed a tai chi course for relaxing the passengers.

photo IMG_2906a

Tough luck for those who were watching a movie, or were not interested in tai chi anyway.

photo IMG_2907a

At first, the setting was in a plane, with two FAs and a specialist in the center, but they went shifted to more pleasant landscape and actors.

photo IMG_2909a

Maybe the point was to keep the motivation of the passengers, without much success : only one passenger followed these exercises in the row ahead of us, here on the left.

photo IMG_2911a

We landed 35 minutes late, which was bad news, because we would not have time for the visit that we had planned downtown, before it would close at 5 pm.

photo IMG_2913a

Deplaning, crossing the J cabin again

photo IMG_2914a

A jetbridge in PVG has inevitably advertising from the Hong-Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, a.k.a. HSBC !

photo IMG_2916a

"International, HK, Macau and Taiwan" arrivals, since the three later cannot be listed as international in politically correct Mainland Chinese.

photo IMG_2917a

The Taiwanese receive actually at this counter so-called “travel documents” which are neither passports nor visas, and they are called “Taiwanese residents” to avoid hinting that they might have a separate citizenship.

photo IMG_2920a

There had been meanwhile a long corridor, with or without a travelator depending on whether you wanted to exercise a little.

photo IMG_2919a

The luggage were delivered quickly and the customs did not pay any attention to us.

photo IMG_2921a

This was the end of the first segment of this trip, and this is the start of an optional tourist bonus.

Construction never stops in Shanghai, and since the previous time I went there, the Shanghai Tower has been completed, dwarfing the 492m high Shanghai World Financial Center, better known as the Bottle Opener. See them here from the window of our room at the Equatorial Hotel, located halfway between PVG and SHA on the subway Line 2.

photo IMG_2976a

It all depended on the urban weather, actually. The next day, the pollution had wiped both of them from the landscape (and the JinMao Tower too, on the left)

photo IMG_4986a

Shanghai is a quite well known city and I’ll rather focus on Yixing. This city some 200 km away from Shanghai may not ring a bell for you, but it is the center for the production of highly esteemed earthenware tea pots. There are incredible quantities of them in the shops there.

photo IMG_5059a

The production is fed by a deposit of a specific kind of clay, whose mining is now controlled by the local authorities in order to avoid outright plundering of this natural resource. The clay is packaged in sorts of soft bricks wrapped in plastic.

photo IMG_5070a

The mass production of tea-pots is done with plaster molds, but it is nevertheless a hand labor consuming craft.

photo IMG_5072a

These are the molds

photo IMG_5075a

On the other hand, the top quality items are hand made on a potter’s lathe. This apprentice was going to need only one year of training to start producing pieces which could be sold, because she is the daughter of a renowned potter whom she has seen at work since her early childhood years.

photo IMG_5078a

But her cousin was going to need two years of training from scratch. Work conditions were not very comfortable in summer because air-conditioning was ruled out : it was desiccate the clay.

photo IMG_5082a

Day after day, there were tirelessly making a teapot which was going to be examined and destroyed at the end of the day, until the day when they would reach the level of quality that the master was expecting from them.

photo IMG_5087a

The nozzle and the handle must be perfectly aligned.

photo IMG_5086a

I could not have done that well of course, but I was nevertheless able that the alignment of this one was imperceptibly flawed.

photo IMG_5089a

This tea-pot was doomed, bt he nevertheless had to finish it.

photo IMG_5091a

When they are not kin, the training is charged 20, 000 RMB per year : quite a hefty investment compared to the income of the families in these villages.

photo IMG_5131a

A tea-pot can be ruined at any stage of the production, like this one when it was fired..

photo IMG_5132a

This one cracked because the darker clay used for the top retracted differently when fired. It was supposed to be the masterpiece of the end of the training of the master potter himself, and he kept it as a precious souvenir.

photo IMG_5107a

The bottom of the tea-pot which was marked with the seal and calligraphy of his own master was also two-tone.

photo IMG_5101a

The trained eye of the master identified immediately if an item was made with a mold or with a lathe, but despite the explanations, I failed miserably to recognize the differences.

photo IMG_5102a

Yixing is not only tea-pots, but also cups, bowls and vases of all sizes.

photo IMG_5133a

Trucks are being loaded for delivering in the whole country: this one was going to deliver its cargo in Zhuhai, at the border with Macau.

photo IMG_5137a

Won’t you take another cup of tea with the master ?

photo IMG_5113a
See more

Verdict

China Eastern

6.3/10
Cabin9.0
Cabin crew6.5
Entertainment/wifi6.0
Meal/catering3.5

Paris - CDG

7.5/10
Efficiency10.0
Access3.0
Services7.0
Cleanliness10.0

Shanghai - PVG

8.5/10
Efficiency9.0
Access7.5
Services7.5
Cleanliness10.0

Conclusion

I had excellent memories from the same flight flown two years before, also reported on this website. It will be a mixed review this time. MU’s strong point is the seat layout of the cabin, and also the quality of the IFE screen (the programs of the IFE are another story) : nothing changed in this regard, and the comfort of that seat is vastly superior to that of AF.
Apart from that, MU disappointed me: the FAs were not very reactive, the airshow had a fixed looping program, the plane was late and this time it made a difference for us, and the meal was worth 7 for me and 0 for my wife, yielding an average of 3.5.

The poor quality of CDG’s rail link was a caricature. For work reasons, we could not leave earlier; I should have checked if there was any problem, but this did not excuse the operator. On the other hand, there was zero waiting at check-in, immigration and security check alike : it it a kind of lottery in CDG.

The immigration was reasonably fast in PVG (I’ve been though it faster, but there was no reason to complain). PVG is far from the city, and taking the subway line requires an inconvenient connection on the same platform on a station on the way (you lose your seat in the process). The Maglev is not a significant gain of time, because it runs every 15 minutes only, and it is a long connection to the subway at it end station which is not in the city center.

Information on the route Paris (CDG) Shanghai (PVG)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 33 avis concernant 3 compagnies sur la ligne Paris (CDG) → Shanghai (PVG).


Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Air France avec 7.5/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 11 heures et 18 minutes.

  More information

2 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 160548 by
    NGO85 SILVER 1963 Comments
    I remember reading this report in French, but I'll comment on the English FR too by editing my own comments^^

    Marathon, merci pour ce FR^^ This is a very non-Marathon report since you didn't get a window seat ;)

    Your decision to fly MU over AF for comfort reasons is completely understandable. Even though I haven't had a bad MU experience on short-haul, I am very hesitant to try their long-haul product. There is no comparison between the A332 and the high-density B777s MU now operates.

    Un mérou KE
    - Many good memories of battles over the windowshades? Very nice spotting at CDG.

    I thought MU's presentation was very good and the meal offerings were decent from my experiences, but this was in J. The catering you showed looks very poor, but in appearance and in quantity. I will wait for the return segment (to see catering ex-PVG), but this is a problem for MU to have that kind of Y offering, very unappetizing.

    Isn't it standard on Chinese carriers for the fasten seat-belt sign to remain on for the entire duration of the flight?

    It seems you got very standard MU FAs, with rather disinterested service and poor consideration for Mrs. Marathon.

    As always, a very interesting bonus. Fascinating pottery making. You always provide an interesting offering into local Chinese culture that non-speakers wouldn't be able to find/experience. Thanks again for sharing and taking the time to translate!
    • Comment 337212 by
      marathon GOLD AUTHOR 10117 Comments
      I remember reading this report in French, but I'll comment on the English FR too by editing my own comments^^
      - You deserve itemized answers for your taking pain to read and provide updated comments.^^

      Marathon, merci pour ce FR^^ This is a very non-Marathon report since you didn't get a window seat ;)
      - But this is a very Marathon MU long haul report, since 100% of my two MU570 flights were on non-window seats ;)

      Your decision to fly MU over AF for comfort reasons is completely understandable. Even though I haven't had a bad MU experience on short-haul, I am very hesitant to try their long-haul product. There is no comparison between the A332 and the high-density B777s MU now operates.
      - Many thanks for alerting me on their high density 777s. I would take that in consideration in the future.

      Un mérou KE
      Many good memories of battles over the windowshades? Very nice spotting at CDG.
      - I don't know why the French nicknames the A380 after this fish (mérou= grouper). KE's inflexible windowshade policy indeed casts a shade on their attractiveness.

      I thought MU's presentation was very good and the meal offerings were decent from my experiences, but this was in J. The catering you showed looks very poor, but in appearance and in quantity. I will wait for the return segment (to see catering ex-PVG), but this is a problem for MU to have that kind of Y offering, very unappetizing.
      - Interestingly, I have never flown PVG-CDG, on any airline. It was not planned it that way originally, but I stayed in China for business meetings, and eventually left flying CZ on a CAN-KUL flight that I reported.

      Isn't it standard on Chinese carriers for the fasten seat-belt sign to remain on for the entire duration of the flight?
      - That appears to be standard (and nonsensical, IMO)

      It seems you got very standard MU FAs, with rather disinterested service and poor consideration for Mrs. Marathon.
      - AF may not be the only Skyteam airline running an infamous FA lottery.

      As always, a very interesting bonus. Fascinating pottery making. You always provide an interesting offering into local Chinese culture that non-speakers wouldn't be able to find/experience. Thanks again for sharing and taking the time to translate!
      - My pleasure. Thanks for reading; the report on the ensuing PVG-CGO flight is posted, with yet another cultural bonus :)

Login to post a comment.