I had not been in China since 2009. Me and my mother had decided to go back in China for 4 weeks (04/11/2019-05/11/2019). The best was to avoid Summer 2019 because you had to face scorching heat.
Throughout my trip in China, we had stayed in Beijing for three days. Then, we went to Jinan to visit my relatives.
We moved to Nanjing and Shanghai before heading to Zhengzhou to see my grandmother and my aunts.
We went back to Jinan for the remaining two weeks, we hiked at Qufu and Taishan Mountains.
On the afternoon of May 10th, we took the High-Speed Train from Jinan towards Beijing. I did not remember the exact station we got off. we arrived to our hotel to spend one night in Beijing.
We had to rebook another one given that the first one had canceled our reservations (it did not accept foreign customers).
The weather was similar as in July (31 Celsius degrees !!!).
After checking out, we went to the airport. My mother did not intend to take the Airport Express as she thought it was not the most practical way. Our hotel was far from any subway stations.
Between 8 and 9 A.M, we made it to Beijing Capital Airport T3. As we had checked earlier, I was able to get a window seat (32A).
Those shots were taken in May 2019. At that time, I neglected to take pictures of my meal or of the terminal. Forgive me for the lack of pictures. I had used a LG G4C smartphone. As a result, the quality of my shots was not as good as now (2025).
Let's get back to the topic, Air Shuttle brought us to the customs.
We passed through security checkpoints. If my memory is accurate, our boarding gate was E36, the last gate (see blue circle on the screenshot, I am sorry for the picture quality :/ ).
Global view of the airport from T3 (second picture).
Before getting on the plane, let's walk around and planespot.
Picture 1: Airbus A330 Cathay Pacific to Hong-Kong
Picture 2: Boeing 747-8 To NY JFK Airport
Currently, airlines such as CA, LH… has been using some Jumbo Jet aircraft (Boeing 747-8).
Not many have kept The Queen Of The Skies.
Planepotting Part 2
Picture 3 : Airbus A330 Air China, unknown destination
Picture 4 : Airbus A321 Air Macau, unknown destination
Picture 5: Boeing 777-300ER Air China (B-2087) to Frankfurt
There is our bird
Boeing 777-300ER Air China Star Alliance Livery (B-2032)
Note that the final shot, I took it almost 5 years later (03/23/2024). I utilized the Nikon Coolpix P1000 under the cold and rain. I do not recommend you to use that camera under poor lighting conditions (your picture quality gets significantly affected).
The major difference between the 2019 version and the 2024 version was the fact the first one featured the 15 Years sticker while the second one did not (CA had removed it).
Here is the aircraft configuration.
I sat next to my mother in row A, a window section.
Boarding began between 12:20 P.M and 1:30 P.M .
Working under heat conditions must be tough for those employees.
To your left, our colleague inbound to Germany.
Later, boarding was complete.
Safety information were given to passengers.
It took us at least more than 20 minutes to get to the takeoff runway.
Picture 1: The control tower could be spotted in the background. Some international airlines (Eva Air, Cathay Pacific, Air Canada, ANA and Scandinavian Airlines) parked in front of their gates.
Picture 2: Boeing 737 Shandong Airlines
Picture 3: Boeing 737 Air China
Picture 4: A grounded Dreamliner Air China, the airplane has its right engine missing
We departed Beijing Capital Airport at around 2 P.M
See you soon Beijing :D !
I forgot to take pictures of our meal :(
What I remembered was we had two options, chicken with steamed rice and vegetables or seafood with steamed rice plus vegetables.
The dish was really appetizing ;) !
I even got a second main course which was chicken with rice. Ice on the cake !
After lunch, lights were turned off for passengers who were willing to sleep.
I rolled down my window.
I watched Aquaman (2018), Fantastic Beasts : The Crimes Of Grindelwald and Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone.
Three hours prior to landing, diner was served. I opted for chicken and noodles. They were so delightful. We flying over the Northern European countries (between Russia and Denmark)
Then, our airplane began its descent to Paris CDG.
The weather was cloudy although not raining.
We flew Le Mesnil-Amelot, CDG airport was at sight.
Touchdown and landing at runway 9L-27R between 6:20 P.M and 6:40 P.M.
A1 Freeway could be seen on the second shot.
We passed by the Weather Forecast Station. I photographed some aircraft during my final moments with CA.
Picture 1: Boeing 777-200 Asiana Airlines from Seoul Incheon
Picture 2: Airbus A350 LATAM from Sao Paolo
Picture 3: Boeing 737 Royal Air Maroc and Dreamliner Norwegian
Picture 4: Dreamliner ANA from tokyo HND (I never thought it would be one day the aircraft carrying me to Japan)
Picture 5: Another Dreamliner Norwegian
Picture 6: Airbus A320 Aer Lingus Rugby Team Livery
After getting off the plane, we passed through customs. We got back our luggage. My father was expecting us at the airport exit and drove us back home.
So this was it, the completion of a 4-week journey in China. Prior to 2025, it was the only Asian country I had visited.
I have been in China 5 times in my life (2001, 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2019).
Bonus pictures CA934 April 11th 2019 Paris CDG-Beijing
Some unposted pictures of my flight Paris-Beijing. Enjoy
