{"id":1946,"date":"2016-08-18T09:00:19","date_gmt":"2016-08-18T01:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/?p=1946"},"modified":"2017-08-17T10:05:52","modified_gmt":"2017-08-17T02:05:52","slug":"20160817qr871","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/2016\/08\/18\/20160817qr871\/","title":{"rendered":"Flight Log of Qatar Airways Flight 871 from Shanghai Pudong to Doha on August 17th, 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summer of 2016.
\nFor reasons I myself find hard to comprehend (so not to mention to explain), I got a four-week vacuum after visiting Cornell. And for similar reasons beyond my comprehension, my parents have been more than eager for a trip this summer to Tibet, also they have been more than displeased for my unwillingness to disclose my summer itineraries and negotiate the Tibet trip. Figuring out there\u2019s no way for me to stay in Beijing for four weeks without offending them in one way or another. So after knowing their urge was for a trip in general, and not for the 48-hour-train away independence-prone<\/del> Tibet offering meandering ticket lines and ten-day Jeep-safari featuring sleeping-bag experience and Chinese-standard tourism service (a.k.a. nothing) and Internet censorship, it\u2019s my turn to pick destinations.
\n(I have to say, you got breathtaking views in return for the sleeping-bagy jeep safaris.)<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s Turkey.
\n
\nThe images in this post are hosted on Imgur. Email me should there be any display problems.<\/span><\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t recall how I bumped into Qatar\u2019s tickets to Istanbul. But since it\u2019s pretty cheap (Shanghai to\/from Istanbul return trip at 4000 CNY), and after figuring that Turkey\u2019s E-Visa was basically no obstacle but 60 dollars, we booked the tickets without hesitation.
\nI shall say the tickets were bought at early June, before the airport blast, before the coup. At that time I was aware of the situation in the Middle East, and thought it was by and large OK for Turkey. I shall say the blast and the coup did took me by surprise, but since neither of which deteriorate any further, no change of plans.<\/p>\n

Since we live in Hangzhou (I guess another reason my parents were so eager to go out this summer was the G20 Summit early September in Hangzhou, for which the government has been trying everything to get people off the streets and off the city by making the city uninhabitable, like shutting down markets, limiting parcel services, etc.), we first took the train to Shanghai. Although Qatar Airways did have a 4-times-a-week service to Hangzhou, adding 2000 CNY per person in air fares didn\u2019t really appealed to me.
\nOh, shall I say Hangzhou government\u2019s grand uninhabitable scheme includes driving airport shuttles (to HGH\/SHA\/PVG airports) out of downtown and into a distant transportation center in the suburbs?<\/p>\n

On our way to the train station we had a little chat with the taxi driver, who told us that he too were to take a vacation in a couple of days, presumably in compliance with the grand uninhabitable scheme. I guess that\u2019s unpaid. <\/p>\n

\"Hangzhou<\/a>

<\/br>Hangzhou East Railway Station Platform<\/br>A CRH380D train coming in the distance.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"CRH2A<\/a>

<\/br>CRH2A Train to Take Me to Shanghai<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Sunset<\/a>

<\/br>Sunset in Rural Shanghai<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

Having arrived at Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station, which is on the opposite of Shanghai to Pudong Airport, my parents and I were kind of split on dinner choices. They sort of preferred the numerous restaurants located in the arrival hall of Hongqiao Railway Station offering expensively priced and awfully tasted menus<\/del>, while I insisted the McDonald\u2019s downtown would be a lot better, although that involves one more subway segment.
\nAnd it did turn out to be that way.<\/p>\n

\"Shanghai<\/a>

<\/br>Shanghai Metro Dongchang Road Station<\/br>I ate two McDonald\u2019s burgers for dinner here.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

So after our reunion at Pudong Airport, which is like a little bit less than three hours before departure time, we proceed to the check-in\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\"Puding<\/a>

<\/br>Puding Airport Terminal 2 Check-in Counters<\/p><\/div>\n

One thing not so pleasant about the check-in experience was that, we seemed to join the queue at its longest hour. As I said before, it\u2019s never pleasant to be a queue where its tail is shrinking. <\/p>\n

\"Boarding<\/a>

<\/br>Boarding Passes<\/p><\/div>\n

Then it\u2019s immigration and securities. I happened to spot a post stating that the airport authorities \u201cstrive to make sure the waiting time for 95% of passengers is below 25 minutes\u201d or maybe it\u2019s 15 minutes, I forgot the details.<\/span> I had a very hard time convincing myself that it\u2019s just me (and my fellow passengers) being the unlucky 5 percent, rather than that post being another bumper sticker that\u2019s basically all over the nation.<\/p>\n

And since the windows of Pudong Airport Terminal 2 were basically out of reach for me, which meant I cannot block out the reflections when taking photos, I only took a few of them. I processed the following two photos so as to minimize the effect of window reflection.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Qatar<\/a>

<\/br>Qatar Airways B77W (A7-BEJ) At the Gate<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Sichuan<\/a>

<\/br>Sichuan Airlines A333 (B-5923) Taxiing<\/br>Off to Saipan.<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

Again, I want to complain about the water machines in Shanghai Airports. Like six months ago when I was in Hongqiao Airport, I couldn\u2019t find a single water machine that offers drinking water at temperature below 40 Celsius. Dear airports in Shanghai, you are using the same model of water machines as every other airport in China, which has 3 buttons on it stating cold, warm, and hot. You have a lot of areas where you could have been warmer, like service attitude.
\nAgain, like every other major transportation hub in Shanghai (train stations, etc), the toilets in Pudong Airport were hopelessly small. I don\u2019t know, maybe the designers found people would spot bathrooms better by its queue than by its sign.
\nWell, the good thing about Qatar Airways is that boarding begins an hour in advance. That, combined with the terrible queues at the securities meant I didn\u2019t got the chance to explore the terminal more and find out how much more terrible it is<\/del>.<\/p>\n

\"Pudong<\/a>

<\/br>Pudong Airport Terminal 2 Interior<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Boarding<\/a>

<\/br>Boarding Flight 871 to Doha<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Qatar<\/a>

<\/br>Qatar Airways B77W (A7-BEJ) Economy Seat<\/br>Reconfigured 3-4-3 layout, I have to say I\u2019m pretty OK with the width (perhaps airlines dared to use 17-inch seats because they researched and figured out there are people like me that aren\u2019t so sensitive about seat width). Also I shall say I\u2019m pretty comfortable with the pitch.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Lufthansa<\/a>

<\/br>Lufthansa A388 (D-AIMD) At the Gate<\/br>Off to Frankfurt.<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

Maybe because it\u2019s already midnight, so the airspace wasn\u2019t as crowded as during the day, our takeoff was only 20 minutes late, which is very awesome given we were at the most delayative airport in the world.<\/p>\n

\"Safety<\/a>

<\/br>Safety Demonstration Feature FC Barcelona<\/br>As a sponsorship agreement between Qatar Airways and FC Barcelona.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Safety<\/a>

<\/br>Safety Demonstration Feature FC Barcelona<\/br>As a sponsorship agreement between Qatar Airways and FC Barcelona.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Safety<\/a>

<\/br>Safety Demonstration Feature FC Barcelona<\/br>As a sponsorship agreement between Qatar Airways and FC Barcelona.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Safety<\/a>

<\/br>Safety Demonstration Feature FC Barcelona<\/br>As a sponsorship agreement between Qatar Airways and FC Barcelona.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Safety<\/a>

<\/br>Safety Demonstration Feature FC Barcelona<\/br>As a sponsorship agreement between Qatar Airways and FC Barcelona.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Safety<\/a>

<\/br>Safety Demonstration Feature FC Barcelona<\/br>As a sponsorship agreement between Qatar Airways and FC Barcelona.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Pudong<\/a>

<\/br>Pudong Airport Terminal 2<\/br>With loads of International flights.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Pudong<\/a>

<\/br>Pudong Airport Terminal 2<\/br>With loads of International flights.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Lake<\/a>

<\/br>Lake Dishui in South-east Shanghai<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Bridge<\/a>

<\/br>Bridge Donghai Into Shanghai\u2019s Harbors<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"West<\/a>

<\/br>West Suburb Shanghai<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Overlooking<\/a>

<\/br>Overlooking City of Changshu<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Jinwan<\/a>

<\/br>Jinwan Town by Yangtze River<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"City<\/a>

<\/br>City of Huanggang by Yangtze River<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"City<\/a>

<\/br>City of Wuhan by Yangtze River<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

At first, I thought maybe given the schedule (2350 – 0350+1), there would only be breakfast services onboard (I even had a bet about this with my father.), and everyone would fallen right asleep after takeoff. But obviously Qatar Airways thought differently, as they deemed a dinner service necessary given most of the passengers would have their dinner like 6 hours ago. And the bad thing about meal services on such a giant plane is that they tend to be slow, as I was given my dinner more than one hour after takeoff. So that\u2019s one hour off my sleep.<\/p>\n

\"Dinner<\/a>

<\/br>Dinner Services<\/br>I picked chicken with rice.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Dinner<\/a>

<\/br>Dinner Services<\/br>My mom picked fish and tomato sauce.<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

<\/br>I felt I had to say something about this guy. I have experienced more than once on Chinese trains fellow discourteous passengers playing whatever videos on their mobile phones out loud, and I have always swallowed my anger, since Chinese trains would be filled with baby screaming and people chatting anyways. Now what I don\u2019t expect is such unruly behavior being witnessed on an overnight international flight. To add to the drama, later in the flight after breakfast, maybe this guy somehow noticed that everybody around him were looking at him weirdly, he pulled out a pair of earphones from his bag.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

\"Some<\/a>

<\/br>Some Nameless India Town<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Breakfast<\/a>

<\/br>Breakfast Services<\/br>I picked the rolls, very nice and sweet rolls.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Muscat,<\/a>

<\/br>Muscat, Oman<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Sohar,<\/a>

<\/br>Sohar, Oman<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Lahbab,<\/a>

<\/br>Lahbab, Dubai<\/br>With the camel racetrack pretty visible from above.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Dubai<\/a>

<\/br>Dubai under Clouds<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Port<\/a>

<\/br>Port of Dubai<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

Our plane flew right above Dubai. But it seemed that the city had veiled itself with thick clouds (if not dust storms), and all its splendor was barely visible from above.
\n

\"Khalifa<\/a>

<\/br>Khalifa Port of Abu Dhabi<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Al<\/a>

<\/br>Al Wakrah, Qatar<\/br>One can clearly see the breakwater of Port Al wakrah.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Ras<\/a>

<\/br>Ras Abu Fontas Water Desalination Station<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Final<\/a>

<\/br>Final Approach into Doha Airport<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Landing<\/a>

<\/br>Landing in Doha Airport<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Doha<\/a>

<\/br>Doha Airport Control Tower<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Qatar<\/a>

<\/br>Qatar Airways Fleet at Doha Airport<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Taxiway<\/a>

<\/br>Taxiway Lights at Doha Airport<\/br>One can clearly see another landing aircraft in the sky.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Qatar<\/a>

<\/br>Qatar Airways Cargo Center<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Stairs<\/a>

<\/br>Stairs at the Back<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Awaiting<\/a>

<\/br>Awaiting Shuttle Buses<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Leaving<\/a>

<\/br>Leaving Aircraft from the Rear Stairs<\/p><\/div>
\nThroughout the disembarkation my father had not stopped complaining about the added trouble of shuttle buses. I, however, was quite excited about my first time of leaving the aircraft from the rear doors.
\nSpeaking of which, although everybody<\/del> every passenger preferred jet bridges, Qatar Airways did put in efforts for passengers\u2019 speedy disembarkation in the absence of a jet bridge. Like they would always make sure the stairs and shuttle buses were ready the moment the plane is parked. I know that\u2019s starkly different from the status quo in China.<\/p>\n

Oh, one more good<\/del> bad thing about shuttle buses is that, you got to experience the heat and humidity of Middle East deserts for five or so brief minutes. I had to say that’s the hottest place we had every been in our entire trip.
\n

\"Qatar<\/a>

<\/br>Qatar Airways B77W Empennage<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Leaving<\/a>

<\/br>Leaving Aircraft from the Rear Stairs<\/p><\/div>
\nFlight 241 of Qatar Airways will be on the next post.
\nEND<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summer of 2016. For reasons I myself find hard to comprehend (so not to mention to explain), I got a four-week vacuum after visiting Cornell. And for similar reasons beyond my comprehension, my parents have been more than… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,172,2],"tags":[213,211,212],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1946"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1946"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1946\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2039,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1946\/revisions\/2039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}