Leaving Kashgar
Today we leave Kashgar for Beijing, then connect to Auckland after midnight. M has a flight an hour before ours and would leave for the airport separately not just due to the timing but also due to space constraints in a typical taxi.
Before we parted ways, M asked me for the fourth time if one of us could take a shoe-box sized of items back to Auckland for her. She’s very persistent and doesn’t take a “no” very easily. At the same time, she’s certainly very thick-skinned and not afraid of repeated rejections.
With so much cold weather gear for this trip, we simply couldn’t. We had been so lucky with the weather than we didn’t really need some of it.
We left the homestay at 1000 and caught a taxi on the main road, getting us to Kashgar Airport at 1035.
At the airport, I held up the check-in line. I had booked my ticket based on a different passport number and the check-in staff were unable to change it. The airport staff were able to update it for the previous two flights but somehow, over here, a supervisor had to be called and it took some time for him to do it in the back office.
Finally, around 1120, I was given my boarding pass and my bag checked all the way to Auckland.
Going through airside, the airport system rejected me. I had to call the supervisor and he helped me get through. It appeared that my updated passport number hadn’t flowed through from the airline system to the airport system. China is very high-tech and rather strict with these controls.
We spent an hour in the lounge. It was one of the most basic ones I’ve ever used with very limited drinks, crackers, sweets and instant noodles. But the seating was better than the public area.
The Air China B737-8 departed about 15 mins ahead of the 1330 departure time. Kim and I managed to share a spare row by shifting up the cabin a little.
That enabled Jo to have a spare seat next to her but she moved down the back for a lie down later in the flight after the simple inflight meal. You kinda need a magnifying glass to find the meat in Air China’s domestic hot meals, but it is better than going hungry.
Arriving in Beijing
The 4h55 flight went extremely quickly and we landed in Beijing Capital airport around 1800 with all the cabin lights on (not on full but no dimmed) despite darkness outside.
It only took about 30 mins to get from our gate to the international airside, despite having to go through customs screening, take a train and also go through immigration. No security screening was required.
We spent about 4h in the lounge from just before 1900 till 2300. We were lucky to get some delicious hot food minutes before they put them away at 1900.