I took a flight this morning on my way to Hong Kong (4 different trains and a taxi make up the rest of the journey) to apply for my new Chinese work visa (an answer to prayer!) and had a typical Chinese flying experience.
Here are the details:
1) You can arrive at the airport 34 minutes before your departure and still make your flight! (official cut off for check-in is 30 minutes before)
2) If you are late, you can walk right up to the front of any counter (even First Class) and walk away with your boarding pass in less then 60 seconds (the other passengers don't mind you cutting, because they would do the same thing!)
3) Even if the security line is really long, you'll still make it through in 5-10 minutes because everyone works quickly (and yes, you do have to take out your laptop and get a pat down… although you can keep your shoes on
4) You still get "real" food (for free!) on almost all domestic flights. I had vegetables and rice, a muffin and some oranges (and orange juice) for breakfast… in economy class!
So my train arrived exactly an hour before my flight, but I had to take a 25 minute taxi ride to the airport. Arriving just minutes before the 1/2 hour cut-off time, I still made it to the gate with about 10 minutes to spare.
Chinese air travel is awesome!
