Flight to China

For the flight from Vienna to China this year, we needed a one-way ticket, as the return journey will be via Singapore. While searching for affordable tickets, I came across the airline Hainan Airlines, which offered the best deal for this ticket type. Naturally, I was skeptical due to the low price, but the experience exceeded all expectations. With plenty of space in the modern Dreamliner airplane, generous legroom, a travel package with a dental kit, cozy socks, and a sleep mask, delicious food, and exceptionally friendly and attentive staff, this Chinese airline impressed us. We were thrilled.

Hainan Airlines has a flight hub in Chengdu, which is why we have to transfer to this modern airport. After nine hours of flight, we arrive in Chengdu. It is the capital of the Sichuan province (yes, the place where the pepper grows) and one of the most dynamic regions in western China. Many companies, like CATL and Sanofi, have established research facilities and industrial plants here. Chengdu is also significant as a center of ancient civilizations in China. The Sanxingdui archaeology is of outstanding importance as it has fundamentally expanded our understanding of early Chinese civilization. It proves the existence of a highly developed, independent Bronze culture in the upper Yangtze basin, which existed in parallel with the Shang dynasty in the central plains. A spectacular discovery from last year also shows that the bronzes found there were painted about 3000 years ago. This pushes back the known history of painted bronze in China by nearly a millennium. There are display boards and artistic elements related to this ancient culture and the Sanxingdui Museum in the connecting corridor between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 at Chengdu Tianfu International Airport.

In the future, I will definitely return here to Chengdu to explore these civilizational treasures. But for now, we continue on to Beijing.

On the two-and-a-half-hour flight, the food is plentiful but not as tasty. Regardless, we drift in and out of sleep, fatigued. At Capital Airport in Beijing, we dock at Terminal 2, which somehow seems outdated compared to all the modernity in China. However, I am impressed by the foam cushions installed on the baggage belt, allowing suitcases and bags to fall softly and not get damaged. I've never seen this at any other airport.

Our transport service is already waiting for us with its large and comfortable electric car, making the last 250 kilometers of our journey to our apartment in Cangzhou the most comfortable part of the trip. In the Onvo L80, we have massage seats and can control the air conditioning from our own small touchscreen as rear passengers. The driver lets the car drive autonomously over long stretches while checking his messages on his smartphone. By the way, the three-hour trip, including tolls, costs only 38 euros. We traveled for 28 hours from our front door in Germany to our front door in China.