Flight: Vancouver to Guangzhou to Beijing with China Southern 中国南方航空

I'm going to Beijing for the first time. My sister has been there for the past two months for summer work so my family and I are going to visit her while exploring the capital city. It's so exciting because I've heard a lot about Beijing how that's where a lot of the palaces are. I'm looking forward to that because I'm really interested in the ancient times 古代 and palaces as well, I'm hoping to learn more Chinese history! And of course, definitely looking forward to the food! Let the trip begin!!!... with a 12-hour flight.

dutyfree at YVR 

YVR after customs

Of course you should always get to the airport early...so that you have some time to shop at the duty free shops!

China Southern - my plane

Airplane pack from China Southern

This was my first time flying with China Southern. Our flight was at 12:30pm, so we'd be flying through the night. We are first making a stop at Guangzhou and then we'll transfer to Beijing. I'm always afraid of being cold on the plane so I was relieved to see that they provided each of us with a blanket already. As my flight to Quebec did not have earphones, I couldn't watch anything. China Southern did provide us with  earphones as well as a pack containing toothbrush, toothpaste, ear plugs, and a sleeping mask. Shortly after the plane was flying steadily and everyone was settled in, we were served drinks and our first meal.

Before this trip, I was talking to a friend and I was saying how I actually like plane meals and I don't find them so bad. Each meal was served with a warm bun which I really liked. For the first meal, I had beef with some farfalle and vegetables. For my second meal, I got beef with rice and some vegetables. I preferred the second meal as I find that this kind of beef is much better served with rice. Also, this was the time that I first tried their milk. Wow, it tasted so different from the milk that I'm used to. I don't think they have milk that have different % of milk fat, but I think the brand was 蒙牛. Just about an hour before we landed, we each got a Saint Germain bun. It the picture it probably looks like a BBQ pork bun, but there were 2 different ones as there are vegetarians on the plane. The other option was a 奶油包 (cream bun).

First meal on the plane

Second meal on the plane

Saint Germain bun

Arrival Card

As we'll be entering China, we had to fill out an "Arrival card" basically giving our info as well as our purpose in China. I was reading the back of the card and realize all the "alien" talk on it... they mean "foreigners"? Haha. Wow, Guangzhou airport is huge. It is so huge that we were afraid we won't make it in time to transfer. Thankfully, they had these "golf carts" that transported us through a long, long hall to the departure gates.

Meal on flight from Guangzhou
to Beijing

On the golf cart at
Guangzhou airport

Guangzhou airport 

Even though the flight from Guangzhou to Beijing is ~2 hours, we still got a meal! I chose fish with rice and unfortunately I didn't like it. By the time we arrived at Beijing, it was like 11PM CST. 15 hour time difference yet I was still able to sleep because flying is tiring!