Review of China Eastern flight from Shanghai to Amsterdam in Economy

Introduction

This is the last section of my trip to China, and it is time to journey back to the west. Today we start in central Shanghai due to an overnight layover.

Nanjing Road is bright and a bit cloudy today. There are many places selling food to workers and tourists, and I buy some breakfast in a nearby street. From here it takes a bit over 15 minutes to reach Longyang Road station, where the Maglev to PVG departs from.

The Shanghai Maglev is very timely and arrives and departs on time, at least on my two experiences. While there is a 20 minute interval between departures, the maximum time from Longyang Road to PVG is around 30 minutes owing to its speed, which makes it faster than the over 45 minutes metro ride. And that's if the more abundant and comfortable seats weren't enough to convince you to spend 50 RMB (~6.50 €).

Departure: PVG T1

There is a 5~10 minute walk from the Maglev (and nearby metro) station, depending on your pace. In the passage towards the terminal, there is an exhibit promoting the Comac C919, an aircraft manufactured in and developed by China themselves (though not without non-negligible contributions from foreign manufacturing and engineering) and flown by MU themselves. Unfortunately, I was not fortunate enough to give it a try.

The Departures area seems quite busy at the moment, but I only wait 12 minutes for check-in thanks to many counters being open. Unfortunately, the bag I check-in is searched, so I have to go to a room near the counters where an officer confirms that the contraband I carry is just some packages of Chinese candy.

Then I have to bring the bag back to the counter where I get my passport back, with the boarding pass. It seems like luck is not on my side, as I'm told there's no window or aisle seats left, so middle it is.

Queuing for emigration takes around 5 minutes and the control itself less than 1, while security takes 20 minutes including the queue.

My gate today is in the satellite building. To get there, there is a frequent shuttle train that takes under 4 minutes to complete the journey.

The satellite terminal is much more modern; while the main terminal does have decent sunlight, this one has smooth and pleasant curves, in contrast to the colliding diagonals and visible beams on the other ceiling.

The waiting area is spacious and has plenty of seating options, both for working and just waiting. Both feature plentiful power outlets, compatible with most sockets. As usual, there are multiple drinking water fountains around.

The elevated terminal floor gives a great view of the tarmac, where our triple-seven has been waiting for a while. Boarding starts right at the scheduled time, and is rather efficient, given the high load today.

Airline: China Eastern Airlines
Flight: MU771
Model: Boeing 777-300ER
Registration: B-7881 (China)
Age: 7 years

Flight: China Eastern B777-300ER

For the next half day I'll be based at 32F, a middle seat on the port side of the middle section; on the forward Economy cabin. While my upper body feels a bit sandwiched between my two neighbors, my legs are spread open by a seat leg. It makes storing my backpack annoying. Other than that, it is comfortable with good padding and ample legroom. Recline is also pretty good.

The headrests are adjustable, though I don't make use of them on this flight. The seatback pocket includes a safety card, a magazine (mostly in Chinese though there are English articles) and a sickness bag. We also get a light blanket and a pillow with a single-use case.

Between the seats, there are universal power outlets with quick charging capabilities, which is great as I was unable to use the USB port on the screen for that purpose and powerbanks are not allowed on Chinese carriers. Overhead there are individual reading lights and no air vents.

The IFE is not the best, though it gives enough entertainment for a flight. Most of the content consists of Chinese movies and music, and the Western collection is limited, though not nonexistent. There are hard subtitles in simplified Chinese for English-language movies, in English for (at least some) Chinese-language movies, and in both for movies in other languages.

The inflight map is a slideshow of different zoom levels, changing between English and Chinese, and some flight information in between. The offered earphones are decent, though I put my noise-cancelling headphones on top to drown out the noise from the engines. This was a bit painful in my ears; the price to pay for not having the proper audio jack.

Fun to spot a China Eastern 777-300 in the movie!

Somewhat over an hour after takeoff, lunch is served. The options are chicken rice and meat (pork I believe) noodle, so this time I pick the latter:

-The starter is some sort of processed meat with a cherry tomato and an unidentified preserved vegetable. It definitely tastes. Can't say more.

-The main is pretty good, it tastes sweet and salty though somewhat lacking on the latter. The texture is a minus, as the noodles clump together making the experience less enjoyable.

-There are salted peanuts, a packaged biscuit and a mysterious piece of butter that I don't know how to use. The peanuts would've been more appreciated while waiting for the meal service.

-The fruit this time is only cantaloupe. It is fresh and normal.

-As a drink I ask for their floral tea, which today is Rose Black Tea. It is the first time I actually enjoy airplane tea; it is aromatic and tasty, though the rose is a bit too strong and covers some of the tea scent.

It's only after I'm done eating that the butter gains meaning, as the crew give brioche rolls to the passengers. The timing is weird, but the bread is alright. I'd understand bread after the meal for dishes that leave a lot of sauce on the bottom, but this was not the case.

Class: Economy (T)
Includes: 2x meal, 1x snack, 1x cabin bag, 1x checked bag.
Seat: 32F
Price: ~580 € (Multi-city trip)
Ancillaries (this segment only): None.

The lavatories remained pristine throughout the flight, though I still regret being too lazy to put my shoes on. Dirt is not always visible!

4:30 hours after lunch, I feel hungry so I ask the crew for a snack, as I did not find a self-service area near the galleys. The crew does bring some food, which is leftovers for lunch. It may be cold, it may be unsafe (hopefully it was fridge-cold and not AC-cold) but it is tasty:

-The main is meat (beef I believe) and vegetables on a tomato sauce with rice. The vegetables are mushy and not too flavorful, but the meat is soft and not too dry thanks to the very delicious tomato sauce. The rest is the same as the lunch service. I also ask for more hot water to brew the tea again.

I have heard many criticisms of MU meals, especially on online fora where users advise future passengers to bring their own food to avoid the "awful, barely edible" China Eastern meals. I believe there are three possibilities here; either my palate is Built Different, Western netizens have a bias against Chinese food, or forum complainers have an overwhelming majority of nothing-likers. I gravitate towards the latter, as I consider myself a picky eater and Chinese food usually has a good reputation around the world.

The "snack" was mostly unnecessary, as a second meal was served an hour later, 5 long hours before arrival. I pick chicken noodle over pork rice:

-I forgot to write down anything regarding the starter and the circular package in the middle. The starter I believe was unremarkable seaweed and the packaged foodstuff was a sort of sweet-ish porridge with beans.

-The main had considerably better noodles than during lunch; they were salty enough and not clumped together this time. The chicken and vegetables didn't really shine, though. They felt like more noodles with somewhat distinct texture.

Either way, I will not complain about a second full meal service with a hot main. But I believe it would've been better closer to landing.

They won't stop feeding us! 1:30 hours before landing, cold sandwiches are distributed. The preserved meat is alright and there is some sauce (possibly mayonnaise) inside, though the bread is too dense so it still feels dry. It does taste nice, though, and I won't complain about free food.

One does wonder if this could have switched places with the second meal service, or at least given as an on-demand snack.

Most of the flight was uneventful, not much turbulence shook us after reaching cruise altitude and we arrived very on time.

Route: Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) – (AMS) Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
Great Circle distance: 8930 km
Flight length: ~9300 km
Flight time: 11h 10m
Delay on arrival: -45 minutes (early)

Arrival: AMS

We land on runway 06, the Kaagbaan, and taxi for 9 minutes to our gate. From there, it takes me 10 minutes to arrive at the immigration control queue, which barely takes 3 minutes until I'm officially back in the Netherlands.

The bags start coming 20 minutes after parking, which is unexpectedly quick and over half an hour faster than announced on the screens. My bag does take its own 20 more sweet minutes to come out, though.

After taking my bag, I finally leave the customs area where there doesn't seem to be drinking water, besides in vending machines or warm from the bathroom sink. After walking for a couple of minutes, I reach the train station where I take an Intercity to Groningen, ending my trip.

Thanks and image credits

Thank you for reading this report! More long-haul flights are planned, with AFKLM.
~~~~~~~
Photography: Own work
Maps: Google
Flight route: Flightradar24