Great video! When I went to China, the immigration official looked at my passport, looked at me, and then said "That's not you, is it?" I was practically shaking. Then he said "Only joking!", laughed, and gave me my passport back! 😄
Never would I try to fly to China because of the language barrier . I saw no one speak English while you were there. So bravo to you Noel for showing us so others know what to expect! Good job. Oh, and your seat was fantastic!❤😊
@@BubblyinUSA2010 The airport staff all have flag badges under their uniform so you know who can understand you and who can't. Most in airports speak English so at least for airport transits, Chinese airports are good (And were always really cheap for Europe-Asia pre 2020...)
Hi Noel, former cabin crew here; the thing with tomato juice is that tomato packs a lot of umami taste which resists the best in airliner cabin conditions, unlike the other types of tastes that get altered becoming bland on airplanes due to the high altitude. That's one reason why people tend to enjoy their tomato juice when flying, although most of the time unknowingly. Also, it's quite filling without being sweet, and thus quite refreshing and a quick, tasty and healthy way to appease hunger with something savory, too.
24:13 I love how the officer's face lit up with a smile as soon as you told him that you're here to try the new plane C919 :) It looked like it took sometime for them to do the paper work; I'm just glad it all worked out just fine!
Going to China without WeChat is like going to a Western country without a cell phone and credit card. When I visited back in 2019 just a few weeks before Covid-19, everything was done through WeChat...using the subway, buying stuff at the supermarket, communicating with my hosts, registering myself at the hotel, paying for parking, reserving at a restaurant, tipping, paying your bills, etc. even giving to a beggar on the streets (though you seldom see any).
@@AstroNerdBoy I guess you can still do things but it will be a lot more inconvenient. We used cash in the supermarket and also to buy subway tickets. The rest of the stuff was covered by our hosts.
The tomato juice thing: most flavours are subdued on a plane, but tomato is actually stronger-tasting on a plane, which is why people drink it. You can actually taste it and it settles your stomach, unlike soda or coffee which can upset your stomach
I also drink tomato juice (but spiced tomato juice. Like with jalapenos. Don't like the plain tomato juice at all) while not airborne. Not often but maybe one or two times a week. Sometimes I fancy a "snack" at work in the afternoon to bridge the extra hours or two until I get home and get a proper dinner. Sometimes when I ate well at lunch, I don't want another meal, so I only do a tomato juice snack which is liquid.
Was in China last month with my family including my ninety-five-year-old aunt in wheelchair. We stayed there for a month and traveled to five provinces including a mix of rural and urban. We had the best experience be it with flights, trains or otherwise.
Noel, I was smiling and laughing through this entire video. I lived 12 years in China from the ages of 6-18. I have flown in and out of Pudong a handful of time (Although we lived in the far south). This brings so many wonderful memories of my time in China. Also, give Hainan airlines another shot. You had a very unusual and brief experience with them on a very unusual flight. If you fly them again then see about visiting Hainan Island. The "Hawaii of China." I lived on it for a number of years and it really is probably China's best kept secret. Most people don't think of tropical island getaway destination when think of China but that's exactly what it is. Hainan airlines is basically China's equivalent to Hawaiian Airlines in America. I'd highly recommend Sanya in the south of the Island. But Haikou is the Capitol and where I used to live. Either way I hope your travels take you back to China. It is absolutely worth visiting and exploring. The REAL China is very different from what the western media would have you believe. And for goodness sakes, just get a tourist Visa. It's so much simpler at immigration haha.
@@kevsouth8497 because of geopolitical competition between US/West and China, Western media try their best to protrait China as negative as possible and demonize China as much as they can, China in their mouth is a such horrible place that even hell is brighter than it. Western media have been manufacturing many logically retarded lies about China, like Xinjiang genocide and people disappear if they say one word wrong....they just want create hatred toward China and damage China governemnt's reputations, as they have always been doing in their own political fighting. If you want to know real China, or real any where, visit it yourself, see with your eyes, collect real data yourself. Hope it is helpful for you.
Agree. Still remember the 3 years I spent in Hainan. I worked for a foreign airlines and was the port manager there. Office located in the lobby of a 5* hotel and there I met my wife, she was the executive of the hotel by then. Basically I travel between Haikou and Sanya every weekend, Monday to Thursday in Haikou and Friday to Sunday in Sanya. Therefore I have the opportunity to enjoy life and work in those 3 years. Me and my wife planned to go back to the place we met to celebrate our wedding anniversary this year.
On the topic of Chinese airlines safety procedures, for very long time Chinese gov has been pushing for high safety standards on board thats why they even tell you off for using headphones at take off/ landing as well and opening windows and sitting up a hour before landing, it does seem extreme but if you look for how busy china air space is, it is quite remarkable that they have almost 0 crashes in recent history. In over a decade China had only 1 fatal crash.
None of those things safeguard a plane from crashing and 0 crashes in recent history? Guess you completely forgot about the 737 that nosedived into a forest last year
@Aisakdik69 Prohibiting the use of headphones is to prevent electromagnetic waves from disrupting the aircraft's control system, and closing the sunshade is to prevent light from disrupting passengers' evacuation. You should at least learn more about it before you talk nonsense
We visited China 5 years ago and were advised before we left the UK that some apps like Facebook are blocked by the authorities. We Chat was suggested as an alternative and worked well, but it wasn't compulsory. I'm sure that the people who advised you to get it were simply trying to be helpful. One good aspect of Chinese airports is that there are plenty of outlets for water to top up your water bottle. There are also free hot water dispensers which are popular with the locals wishing to make some green tea in a flask.
Not just for tea (and making ramen), Chinese people often prefer drinking hot/warm water (as opposed to cold water) for a variety of reasons - there's supposed health benefits, but there's also just the fact that people are just used to boiling water before drinking as the tap water is not potable
Yes WeChat is not compulsory, as for the health declaration, we can finish it in a website instead of the mini program in WeChat, but it would be more convenient with a WeChat in China
Google Play is also blocked in mainland China I think so if you're an Android user & want to download new apps, you must sideload from the app developer's websites. Which will now also lead to my country's banks' Android apps auto-disabling themselves on your Android device as sideloaded apps are regarded as having a higher chance of carrying viruses & other malware. CitiBank's app goes 1 step further & also demands that Developer Options be disabled on your Android device before its app can be enabled
The whole country operates on WeChat. You weren’t being asked out, you were experiencing someone wanting to make sure you got good service. Though you also chose the classic overpriced tourist route to get to your hotel - but also useful for a first timer.
@@roblivesaroundtheworldNo not at all. All too true. Chinese live their lives under strong-armed micro-management and constant surveillance, with the price being to be arrested, or worse, by police forces the Chinese government operates around the world, including in the USA... No, thanks!
but in fact, there's many other apps you can freely choose to use in China. so put away your prejudices and stop talking the government bullshit thing like that.@@b534hng
Lived in China for 6 years and loved it. Flew in and out of the Pudong monthly. The immigration staff were always extremely efficient and polite, far more so than in the USA for instance. Sometimes the language barrier can be intimidating but the people were always very nice.
Hi Noel. Fun fact to answer your question - tomato juice is sold on planes as your taste buds are significantly descentsitised due to air pressure- that's why plane food can sometimes taste a bit off or funny. As you found out, tomato juice is very strong and helps bring back your taste buds.
Depends on your profile probably (both are racially profiling most likely). At least when it comes to visas the US is much more likely easy for tourists than China.
Yeah, in Australia and Singapore, filming in customs is a no-no, with many signs showing that filming is prohibited. I'm actually surprised Noel gets through many country's customs without any issues.
I can feel you about the concerns for the 24h-Visa. I got re-rerouted once from FRA to ICN over PVG. On the way to PVG I could feel my body temperature going up, as I never thought about the Chinese Visa. But must say, it was easy to get the 24-hours transit visa, they were really helpful. By the way: the connection with China Eastern in Business class with an A330: absolutely great and fantastic flight product 👍
Basically some advice: Pudong is basically like the Narita of Shanghai metro area, the bigger one, mostly to intl traffic and (much) farther from the city center. Hongqiao is basically the Haneda of Shanghai metro area, smaller, mostly services domestic routes (with a handful of intl flights) and much closer to the city center. Unlike Haneda tho, where u can get a flight to places like JFK and LHR, you will only find regional intl / non-mainland flights, such as to HKG, Macau, Taipei Songshan, Seoul Gimpo and the previously named Tokyo Haneda. Before 2016, the intl terminal (T1, it also is home to domestic budget airlines such as Spring Airlines) was dirty, cramped and very outdated. T2, the domestic terminal, is much nicer and is akin to a major super connector like Doha and Dubai. Now T1 is a lot nicer but very small. If ur flying from those cities I mentioned before directly or u choose to fly ANA or Cathay (the 2 major intl / non-mainland airlines that service SHA), fly to SHA.
The issue for you at Shanghai is that foreigners (without a proper 30 day visa) can only transit through one airport before either leaving the country or staying in China (with a proper visa). Your itinerary showed two transits. You are lucky they let you board in Malaysia. Look it up online and you'll see what I mean.
Exactly the reason why he waited at immigration for a long time, cuz the transit visa has the restrictions of the provinces he would be able to visit. But it was so nice for immigration officers to grant him the visa and just let him go😂😂
I visited China many times during the early 2000s. Always amazed me in Shanghai how fast I could get through the airport and headed to my hotel, though I was usually traveling on a business Visa. Seemed eerily quiet at the airport, I remember a lot more crowds. Great video Noel, I’m really interested in your next flight.
Hi Noel great video as always. I was very nervous first time into China. In 2019 went in across 4 different country land borders; immigration staff always helpful if you do everything by the rules.
I haven’t visited China for a very long time. I enjoyed my stays there. Met some very nice locals also. I have been to Beijing twice. Once to Xian. Once to Hong Kong. I found most of the people welcoming and friendly. I stayed in each place about eight days. WeChat is a common communication platform in China. I used something different at that time. Funny about what you said about the tomato juice. When I was a child my grandmother would buy tomato juice. The brand was V-8, or Sacramento. That Business Class looked very nice. I usually fly coach. But this past March I moved back from living in Bangkok for three years. I treated myself one way Business Class. It was on JAL, BKK to EWR. The Business Class section looked like it needed a makeover. And the food both western and Japanese. Was not good at all.
I took inspiration from your video and whilst in Seoul decided I would utilise the 144hour visa (I’m Australian passport). I initially booked a Seoul - Guangzhou- Shanghai flight. At check in , I was denied because you cannot stop in 2 Chinese cities, only 1. Thus I booked a flight for Seoul directly to Shanghai. In shanghai , Chinese immigration did their jobs well in the way of applying to regulations whilst having very good customer service skills. I will stay in Shanghai for 4 days before flying to Bangkok. PS: I was surprised I wasn’t asked for a COVID test at all either.
China is a fantastic place to visit! So much history, fantastic scenery (guiding river cruise and visit is a must do) language barrier can be difficult at times but can be overcome!
The check in staff should have just given you the website link for the Customs Health Declaration, rather than having you download wechat for it. I don't think she was properly trained
Since other means of communication are mostly blocked, especially the E2EE ones. So the only thing left are basically WeChat and QQ. QQ are kinda old now, thus WeChat is much more popular.
True, although, to be fair, WeChat is used by EVERYONE in China, it really is difficult to do anything in China without WeChat installed. It is truly the 'everything' app in China, and is the way most people pay for, well, everything. It's also very common in other parts of Asia so it's probably quick surprising that a person flying to China wouldn't already have it installed.
She is cute but poorly trained. China does NOT force visitors to download WeChat to make health declaration for entry. I've used the website multiple times in the last 2 months and no issue at all.
Ahhh good old Shanghai I lived there from 2002-2012 best time of my life! I hope you get a chance to go back soon and take the Maglev! Some very delicious food in Shangers and a lot of places to wet your whistle! All the best to Rachael!
I love tomato juice 😂 yes I do buy it at the supermarket lol. Another great review, glad you got in to China, look forward to the upcoming vids over the next few weeks.
Great to see another video from Lord Noel! Hopefully Rachel is doing better. Thanks so much for this new upload Lord. Best wishes to Rachel, GOD bless! 💕
Loved this edition of ur travels as it gave such a fun insight into, a quite understandably, dubious situation. Nice that everything worked out so well for you and had a better experience than anticipated
nah Noel is good publicity for any airline he flies on. So long as you don't abandon him and refuse to refund his money and have multiple emergency landings with him on board
Well in this video he said he’s never been to China but he posted the C919 video a month ago and is now out of China - which means things probably went alright
Apparently tomato juice and ginger beer are popular on flights because they have a flavour profile that tastes good with the physiological changes that dull the senses in a pressurised cabin. I think Captain Joe or 74 Gear talked about it in a video years ago. Heston Blumenthal also did a TV show about designing the ideal in-flight food, in which he learned about how the dry air in an aeroplane affects our sense of taste and smell. There are compounds in tomato juice that are among those least affected by the dulling of taste.
Noel, I have never had tomato juice at home but it has been a tradition for me to have a glass of tomato juice (no ice) on one leg of every flight. Have been doing it for 40 years. A tradition does not always require a reason. One of my sons has started doing that as well. Cheers!
I can see why you were nervous. I figured the whole idea with the transit was to stay overnight and depart from the same city the next day. I’m glad they let you do it tho!
China actually has very good transit visas.. Both Shanghai and Beijjng actually have 144-hr visas, and you can travel a decent distance away. A pre-Covid trip I flew into Shanghai, visited Wuxi and Hangzhou and flew out of Hangzhou airport six days later
This has to be one of your best videos in a while (not being rude, its the benchmark is really high, as they are all very good). Really enjoyed watching this
Very interesting video. Having printed copies of everything you might get asked for smoothed your way through. The immigration staff were very polite & coped well with an unusual situation. Your video makes me want to try a visit to China or Hong Kong😀
I've been to China many times and it's amazing, jaw dropping in places. You have to go to Huangshan mountain and Zhangjiajie (avatar was filmed there!)
Always a bit anxious when approaching immigration in Asia. Glad that you captured it on video even though it's generally prohibited but good to see that you were treated respectfully even though most customs officers don't have much charisma the Chinese have more than most!
Had a similar experience transiting through Guangzhou on the way through to Europe. It can be a little challenging but all the airport staff were great. Very little English and I had no Mandarin but got there in the end
I had a 20 hour transit in Guangzhou on my route from Amsterdam - Melbourne. They didn’t let me enter on a 24hr transit visa unfortunately not sure if because it was lost in translation or they simply didn’t wanna let me in.
Tomoto juice under that pressure actually test different and really good. I think its the salt in it. It has been said that the low pressure inside the plane changes/enhances our taste buds
I flew Shanghai Airlines from Beijing - Seoul once as part of a trip with China Eastern. One bloke lit up a cigarette mid-flight, I think he'd almost finished it by the time the cabin crew noticed :D
Pre-pandemic you could enter China on a transit visa, issued on arrival, that could last several days depending on which airport you arrived at. It was positively promoted by the airlines and tourist agency. My kids used it when they did their North Korea trip, staying a couple of days in Beijing either side of the flights to and from Pyongyang. I think one of the stipulations was that you had to stay within the metropolitan area of your arrival airport though.
Missed you since the last vlog. While you may be nervous there is the exhilaration of something so new. For you the world traveler thats something special! Keep us posted!
I missed a weeks post because my wife had a medical emergency, while we were traveling. She had surgery & we came back home, last week & she is recuperationg now.
Noel. WeChat is common throughout much of Asia. I recommend having it. Don't worry, China has great planes and great infrastructure/hotels/etc. You likely took the Maglev to the city from the airport and arrived in 20 minutes or so. Bling bling. Enjoy.
We’re flying from BUD to PVG and then onwards to SYD in business class with Shanghai Airlines/China Eastern and attempting to get the TWOV as well, this has been exceptionally helpful, thank you!
Another amazing video Noel 😁 always wondered what it would be like travelling to china. Haha certainly got me nervous seeing you go throw the airport but glad you got through without any issues. AV geek card was key haha 😁 hope you get to go on the C919 aircraft. I hope Rachel is feeling much better also 🙏
Yes this plane was beautiful & it looked so clean! I'm sorry u had confusion that caused some anxiety. I'm glad Josh was able to help u out! Happy New Year to you and your lovely family! I enjoy ur videos so much! Kind of off the subject, but how is Rachel doing? I have M.S., Lupus & Osteoarthritis so ik how it feels 2b in pain. I hope she's ok & doing well! I hope this new year has her feeling less pain! She's always in my 🙏's! Can u do a video with ur family soon especially u & ur son? If so, can he do the "Loo Review"? He's great...a "mini U" in the making!
I have travelled many times through China enroute to my house in the Philippines. The first time can be quite a bit confusing, but, overall, I've never had any problems transiting.
As a Chinese person who was born in the US and lived here my whole life, I would love to go to China. It scares me to death the thought of going to China but I still want to do it. My Mom, brother, sister, Grandma, and uncle went to China to meet up with another uncle and his family who lives there in like 2016. One thing everyone got to do was see the terracotta warriors, something that is off limits but my one uncle who lives in China managed to do through a perk of working for the company that's important to the health of every human past, present and future.
Hi Noel! Greetings from a Chinese fan! It's great to see you in my home country and I hope you enjoyed the trip besides the C919 flight. Some quick thoughts: 1. I really don't get the QR code stuff, which is still ridiculously required in the summer of 2023. Let alone they ask foreigners to use Wechat to run the whole process. 2. That being said, the entry requirement is such a relief in comparison with in 2022, which by then was a nightmare. I was deterred by the complicated testing requirements and extremely expensive flight tickets (Imagine a one-way economy ticket SFO-PVG that cost $4000+) and have not gone back since Covid. 3. The travel experience with Chinese carriers could be quite different, depending on the performance of the cabin crew, even within the same airline. And there could also be a huge difference of experience if the passenger speaks Chinese. I think many FAs do speak good English but something can get lost in translation. For example, some senior FAs from Air China tend to take care of passengers like a lovely old lady from the neighborhood in Beijing and that subtle difference might be difficult to perceive in another language. Anyway, hope you can visit China pretty soon and have more time exploring other Chinese carriers.
Hi Noel! Also as a fan of China, I would like to add a few extra points: 1. Shanghai Airlines was originally an independent airline, but in 2009, China Eastern merged it. It kept the original branding, but a lot of it became aligned with China Eastern. (You can totally see Shanghai Airlines as a part of China Eastern Airlines) 2. What you may not know is that there is actually a website you can use to fill in the customs declaration code in addition to WeChat. But a lot of airline flight attendants don't explain this. 3. Quite a few Chinese airlines start the descent preparation procedure very early in the morning, mainly because quite a few Chinese domestic flights often have substantial bumps during descent. (If these are wrong, please correct them in the reply)
Hi Noel - I life in Houston Texas from houston - so glad you and your family have moved to Houston - praying for you and your family - if you ever do a TH-cam group meetup I would love to meet your family - thank you for your wonderful lovely reviews - I am in Amsterdam now - I so much want to go throughout Europe - we will see - God bless you friend and God bless your TH-cam channel Sir !
Terrific video. I traveled to Shanghai many times in the late 90's/early 20's. I always stayed at the Portman Ritz Carlton. It was like a little western city block with American restaurants and Irish pubs. I had a great time when I visited. I had a visa, which made it as easy as traveling to any other country. I'm not sure if it's more difficult to get a visa to China now. I'm also not sure, given the country's leadership in China, that I'd want to revisit the place. Thanks for your content. It never disappoints!
Noel I'm going to say this your loo reviews is top notch, and especially with the animation, which Josh Cahill's loo reviews lack lol! and thank you for pronouncing Shanghai correctly lol
I transited in Wuhan on 31st December 2019.... The airport transit area was being renovated so they had me actually enter China and check in again for my onward flight. I expected the 1 day transit visa but the entry stamp was for 3 months. I had 7 hours in-between flights so took a taxi ride around the city to kill the time. Airports in China are always extremely good in my experience... I would have edited out the bits where you sound scared lol Good video as always!!
Shanghai Airlines used to be part of STAR but moved to SKYTEAM after being taken over by ChinaEastern. There originally were technicalities about the Transit Visa that required the departure flight within 72-hours and had to be from the same airport one arrived at (not just the same city), could not be a return to the initial departure country (Malaysia in your case) and could not be to an interim Chinese airport/city even if transiting. When it was first introduced I had the same issue departing SYD on SQ. Took a while at checkin to sort things out, but Also a “trip” to the supervisor when I got to PVG. As for tomato juice, clearly you’ve not spent enough time in North America to discover the Bloody Mary or Caesar, vodka and tomato/Clamato juice (and various other spices including a spurt of your native Worcestershire sauce). It’s the Unami of tomatoes and as noted altitude that give it a special added taste at 35K feet.😮 I’ve found in Asia What’sApp is pretty universal for contacting people, cabs etc. and in China it’s WeChat.
Figured a guy who runs a channel about flying international airlines or airlines would know about these things. A world traveler would know about Whatsapp or Wechat. Lack of research is the core issue here.
I've never had an issue getting into China since first visited in 2008. It's actually less stressful than going through Heathrow which I always find chaotic and they are good at losing your luggage.
You have to be joking FFS, or else you haven't been back in the recent months perhaps?.. I've transited China about 6 weeks back and I'm telling you it was utter chaos - an absolute nightmare I have no desire to repeat.
News flash: we aren't in 2008 anymore. Since emperor Xinnie the Pooh took the helms & especially since he unleashed the Wu flu (sorry, need to meet my quota of truthful trigger-phrases) getting into & especially out of China isn't always as easy as you remember.
oh about heathrow, i got some experience there I was on a buisness trip taking british airway from Singapore to Heathrow, in which they lost my baggage... Since I was attending a meeting, I was compensated 1200 euros to buy a suit and I reclaimed my baggage when I arrived back at Singapore.
CheckInAgent is just Doing their Job soooo :) Im also a Check in Agent and yes we are asking these questions bc we HAVE to check if (depends obviously of the passport and the FINAL and TRANSIT destination) ur need a visa/ health declarations/ electronic declarations or something else etc. Bc our check in system has a official website (it’s updated every day) wich has all the information detailed about visa etc and thats literally the most important part of our job to check that out! Otherwise when u got deported back we have to pay the fee and we don’t want that haha bc it’s a lot!! Anyways I love ur content keep going :)
Noel, love the video but even more happy to hear Rach is doing better. I had necrotic pancreatitis 10 years ago and spent the better part of 6mo in the hospital. It's not fun to deal with but so glad to hear she's on the mend. Cheers from Seattle!
@@djwoodgateThe US should make Joe MaMa. It will definitely be larger than any of the social networking sites and will be 100% successful in population control which Meta, Google, Twitter and Instagram failed as they were only successful to brainwash Muricans and it's allies.
I'm new to your channel. I had a good laugh about your WeChat experience. I went through that learning curve several years ago. Very frustrating, but not too bad once you get used to it. I do enjoy Shanghai Airlines. Not a bad airline.
As soon as you were having issues with visas I was surprised you didn’t just call Josh. Also want to say I love it how Noel is being chatted up by locals ahhaha😂
That 'Enjoymemt Menu' suggests [ to me ] inspiration being taken from 'Massage Parlours'. Who doesn't love receiving a 'Sunrise Dream' [ wale-up indulgence ], or a 'Sunset Dream' [ bedtime indulgence ]..???
China is an amazing country Noel, you should go on a tour! Shanghai is well worth a visit, stay if you can in the Fairmont Peace Hotel on the Bund (Art deco elegance at it's best!)
@@geofferychang8713 living in one place is different than touring around for sure, but it is the case everywhere, for no place in this world is a flawless paradise. There are over 95.5% support rate of governement in China, highest in the world, based on survey by Harvard Kennedy school, means people are happy there. And more and more expets who planned to stay in China for short time, one month or maximum a year, ended up staying 2 years, 5 years and 10 years, even 20 years. No country is for anyone, definitely not for a hater. Keep away from China, it will be good for both of China and you.
Oh my word the tomato juice thing on planes...i nearly fell out of my chair when you said that. I ONLY drink tomato juice when I'm flying...and its the best when they have those cylindrical ice cubes with the holes in the middle lol that is hilarious!
Nice vid noel, I have travelled to China from both the UK and Singapore many times before and is not much different than any other country. The only thing I've found is Chinese airports love for remote stands as I have had many of them after landing
true especially in hongqiao, they like to ship you across terminal. They will let you check in at T1 and remote bus you to a stand at t2. They simply love remote stands
VERY impressed with the Shanghai Airlines Dreamliner; however, if I travel, I think I will try to shy away from a 787, because the window dimming thing is REALLY annoying-I want to be able to look out the window from TO to LDG whenever I WANT. Suggestion: please put in the description WHEN these flights actually took place so we can judge seasons and how long ago it was; also, you just seem to wear the MOST RANDOM t-shirts when traveling, maybe something more interesting?
Shanghai Airlines is the subsidiary of China Eastern with shared operation, aircraft and staff are basically the same between the two airlines. (So if you take a domestic flight of Shanghai Airlines, you may sometimes get on an aircraft from China Eastern)
I always thought the rules of the transit visa was you specifically weren’t allowed to travel within china eg you cannot leave the port that you flew into (in your case PVG) to travel anywhere else except out of china. That said, shame you didn’t get to experience the Puxi side - need to come back
I don't think WeChat has any equivalent outside of China. It's so much more than a messaging/social media app, as you can see in the video. Basically, any social interaction in China requires you to either have WeChat or Alipay. And it's a huge pain to get one account for foreigners, in this sense I think China is still far from opening up for foreign travel/tourism.
Sorry but don't agree that it's a HUGE pain to get WeChat/Alipay, I have both. Just need to follow the steps to set them each up and connect to your bank account and now your foreign CC. However as you rightly stated they are both essential in China for everything for communication, payments ,business etc. etc. One thing that makes the process easier if your planning on being in China for more than a day is to buy a local sim card, so that you can easily receive SMS txt messages. Invest in a VPN before arriving in China so that you can conveniently use Google Translate and that will help with the language barrier.
As an American, I recommend that people try to visit China. There are ways to go without a visa for up to six days but check details on that and do your homework. The next destination country has to be outside of China though. Still, don't be afraid of going to China. Don't believe the hype. Yes, it is different but people are mostly the same and they can be friendly as well.
Great video!
When I went to China, the immigration official looked at my passport, looked at me, and then said "That's not you, is it?"
I was practically shaking. Then he said "Only joking!", laughed, and gave me my passport back! 😄
My experience in China has been the TSA equivalent are very nice. Everyone else was fairly rude and mean.
@@wakannnai1😊
Never would I try to fly to China because of the language barrier . I saw no one speak English while you were there. So bravo to you Noel for showing us so others know what to expect! Good job. Oh, and your seat was fantastic!❤😊
@@wakannnai1 if you are British or American i am not amazed though.
@@BubblyinUSA2010 The airport staff all have flag badges under their uniform so you know who can understand you and who can't. Most in airports speak English so at least for airport transits, Chinese airports are good (And were always really cheap for Europe-Asia pre 2020...)
In Scotland Noel having a Wee Chat is something we do every day! 🙂
😂 Good play on words
Hi Noel, former cabin crew here; the thing with tomato juice is that tomato packs a lot of umami taste which resists the best in airliner cabin conditions, unlike the other types of tastes that get altered becoming bland on airplanes due to the high altitude. That's one reason why people tend to enjoy their tomato juice when flying, although most of the time unknowingly. Also, it's quite filling without being sweet, and thus quite refreshing and a quick, tasty and healthy way to appease hunger with something savory, too.
I'm one of those people who never drink tomato juice except on a plane. The reasons you give pretty much covers why.
Same! Tomato juice on planes is a must
Not unless it's mixed with vodka for a Bloody Mary. Tomato juice by itself? No way!
So either on land or in air it will still taste disgusting
You’re wasting your breath & time. No matter how you explain it he won’t get it. It’s not his fault he’s inbred
24:13 I love how the officer's face lit up with a smile as soon as you told him that you're here to try the new plane C919 :)
It looked like it took sometime for them to do the paper work; I'm just glad it all worked out just fine!
This is a smart move too. The Chinese are very proud of our own C919.
@@Weibin1888 ? a good joke
@@biubiu5079 we are proud?
Going to China without WeChat is like going to a Western country without a cell phone and credit card. When I visited back in 2019 just a few weeks before Covid-19, everything was done through WeChat...using the subway, buying stuff at the supermarket, communicating with my hosts, registering myself at the hotel, paying for parking, reserving at a restaurant, tipping, paying your bills, etc. even giving to a beggar on the streets (though you seldom see any).
Well, the population needs to be monitored and controlled, and what better way that with an app. What happens if you didn't own a smart phone?
@@AstroNerdBoy you can still pay with cash... you dont rlly need one, just convient (english is not my first laang thks)
lang
absolutely! I still use it now although it's two years since I left China. such a good app to have
@@AstroNerdBoy I guess you can still do things but it will be a lot more inconvenient. We used cash in the supermarket and also to buy subway tickets. The rest of the stuff was covered by our hosts.
The tomato juice thing: most flavours are subdued on a plane, but tomato is actually stronger-tasting on a plane, which is why people drink it. You can actually taste it and it settles your stomach, unlike soda or coffee which can upset your stomach
Also contributes to a bloody mary.
@@philiphunt7754 yeha and you can ask for tabasco with your tomato juice too, so a "virgin mary" 😁
and tobacco for chewing@@KristopherNoronha
I also drink tomato juice (but spiced tomato juice. Like with jalapenos. Don't like the plain tomato juice at all) while not airborne. Not often but maybe one or two times a week. Sometimes I fancy a "snack" at work in the afternoon to bridge the extra hours or two until I get home and get a proper dinner. Sometimes when I ate well at lunch, I don't want another meal, so I only do a tomato juice snack which is liquid.
Was in China last month with my family including my ninety-five-year-old aunt in wheelchair. We stayed there for a month and traveled to five provinces including a mix of rural and urban. We had the best experience be it with flights, trains or otherwise.
Oh true, its surprisingly developed nation, definitely changed a bit from the last 30 years.
Noel, I was smiling and laughing through this entire video. I lived 12 years in China from the ages of 6-18. I have flown in and out of Pudong a handful of time (Although we lived in the far south). This brings so many wonderful memories of my time in China. Also, give Hainan airlines another shot. You had a very unusual and brief experience with them on a very unusual flight. If you fly them again then see about visiting Hainan Island. The "Hawaii of China." I lived on it for a number of years and it really is probably China's best kept secret. Most people don't think of tropical island getaway destination when think of China but that's exactly what it is. Hainan airlines is basically China's equivalent to Hawaiian Airlines in America. I'd highly recommend Sanya in the south of the Island. But Haikou is the Capitol and where I used to live. Either way I hope your travels take you back to China. It is absolutely worth visiting and exploring. The REAL China is very different from what the western media would have you believe. And for goodness sakes, just get a tourist Visa. It's so much simpler at immigration haha.
Can't agree more, though in my 9 years working in Zhejiang, I confess I never made it to China. WeChat: kind of essential there.
Can you explain the actual differences between your experience of China and how western media portrays it?
@@kevsouth8497 because of geopolitical competition between US/West and China, Western media try their best to protrait China as negative as possible and demonize China as much as they can, China in their mouth is a such horrible place that even hell is brighter than it. Western media have been manufacturing many logically retarded lies about China, like Xinjiang genocide and people disappear if they say one word wrong....they just want create hatred toward China and damage China governemnt's reputations, as they have always been doing in their own political fighting. If you want to know real China, or real any where, visit it yourself, see with your eyes, collect real data yourself. Hope it is helpful for you.
Hainan Air used to be a 5-star airline ranked by the international bodies
Agree. Still remember the 3 years I spent in Hainan. I worked for a foreign airlines and was the port manager there. Office located in the lobby of a 5* hotel and there I met my wife, she was the executive of the hotel by then. Basically I travel between Haikou and Sanya every weekend, Monday to Thursday in Haikou and Friday to Sunday in Sanya. Therefore I have the opportunity to enjoy life and work in those 3 years. Me and my wife planned to go back to the place we met to celebrate our wedding anniversary this year.
On the topic of Chinese airlines safety procedures, for very long time Chinese gov has been pushing for high safety standards on board thats why they even tell you off for using headphones at take off/ landing as well and opening windows and sitting up a hour before landing, it does seem extreme but if you look for how busy china air space is, it is quite remarkable that they have almost 0 crashes in recent history. In over a decade China had only 1 fatal crash.
None of those things safeguard a plane from crashing and 0 crashes in recent history? Guess you completely forgot about the 737 that nosedived into a forest last year
@Aisakdik69 Prohibiting the use of headphones is to prevent electromagnetic waves from disrupting the aircraft's control system, and closing the sunshade is to prevent light from disrupting passengers' evacuation. You should at least learn more about it before you talk nonsense
Yes did you miss what happened last year? Crash happened and they won’t tell you the truth as long as possible
@@Aisakdik69The recent plane crash was literally the first and only one after decades.
@@amtrakxingChina tells the truth, the west lies
We visited China 5 years ago and were advised before we left the UK that some apps like Facebook are blocked by the authorities. We Chat was suggested as an alternative and worked well, but it wasn't compulsory. I'm sure that the people who advised you to get it were simply trying to be helpful. One good aspect of Chinese airports is that there are plenty of outlets for water to top up your water bottle. There are also free hot water dispensers which are popular with the locals wishing to make some green tea in a flask.
Not just for tea (and making ramen), Chinese people often prefer drinking hot/warm water (as opposed to cold water) for a variety of reasons - there's supposed health benefits, but there's also just the fact that people are just used to boiling water before drinking as the tap water is not potable
Yes WeChat is not compulsory, as for the health declaration, we can finish it in a website instead of the mini program in WeChat, but it would be more convenient with a WeChat in China
Google Play is also blocked in mainland China I think so if you're an Android user & want to download new apps, you must sideload from the app developer's websites. Which will now also lead to my country's banks' Android apps auto-disabling themselves on your Android device as sideloaded apps are regarded as having a higher chance of carrying viruses & other malware. CitiBank's app goes 1 step further & also demands that Developer Options be disabled on your Android device before its app can be enabled
Yes, but if you don't have WeChat, you don't have any practical way of communicating with people in China.
不是APP被封锁，是中国网络是局域网，所有的APP只能在中国的局域网里使用，只要有个VPN你就能连接上国外的网络，比如我现在…
I am from Shanghai and great to see you visiting my hometown - hope you enjoyed your time there!
The whole country operates on WeChat. You weren’t being asked out, you were experiencing someone wanting to make sure you got good service. Though you also chose the classic overpriced tourist route to get to your hotel - but also useful for a first timer.
Here I am waiting for the Shanghai metro to open at 6am , I landed at 11pm and just missed the last metro haha
Good service? More like government forcing everyone to use only one app…one app to rule them all
@@b534hng That sounds like the voice of small minded, prejudice. Well done.
@@roblivesaroundtheworldNo not at all. All too true. Chinese live their lives under strong-armed micro-management and constant surveillance, with the price being to be arrested, or worse, by police forces the Chinese government operates around the world, including in the USA... No, thanks!
but in fact, there's many other apps you can freely choose to use in China. so put away your prejudices and stop talking the government bullshit thing like that.@@b534hng
Lived in China for 6 years and loved it. Flew in and out of the Pudong monthly. The immigration staff were always extremely efficient and polite, far more so than in the USA for instance. Sometimes the language barrier can be intimidating but the people were always very nice.
Poo dong
@user-dk5qd7pw2s that's so sad....
I was living and working in China before Covid for 4 years. Amazing country with lovely people and super delicious food❤
Hi Noel. Fun fact to answer your question - tomato juice is sold on planes as your taste buds are significantly descentsitised due to air pressure- that's why plane food can sometimes taste a bit off or funny. As you found out, tomato juice is very strong and helps bring back your taste buds.
I agree. Although generally disgusting tomato juice is quite palatable at altitude.
Tomato juice on a plane is awesome !
@@petermceldowney我喜欢吃热狗🌭️
Good luck filming in US customs if you travel there and they would have a lot more questions. Looked like an easy entry into China. I'm impressed.
Depends on your profile probably (both are racially profiling most likely). At least when it comes to visas the US is much more likely easy for tourists than China.
Yeah, in Australia and Singapore, filming in customs is a no-no, with many signs showing that filming is prohibited. I'm actually surprised Noel gets through many country's customs without any issues.
US CBP forbids filming
He lives in the US now
@@whohan779no it’s not.
I can feel you about the concerns for the 24h-Visa. I got re-rerouted once from FRA to ICN over PVG. On the way to PVG I could feel my body temperature going up, as I never thought about the Chinese Visa. But must say, it was easy to get the 24-hours transit visa, they were really helpful. By the way: the connection with China Eastern in Business class with an A330: absolutely great and fantastic flight product 👍
I was actually holding my breath when you were talking to customs. The trip so far has been pretty great. Can't wait to see the rest. Be safe.
Basically some advice: Pudong is basically like the Narita of Shanghai metro area, the bigger one, mostly to intl traffic and (much) farther from the city center. Hongqiao is basically the Haneda of Shanghai metro area, smaller, mostly services domestic routes (with a handful of intl flights) and much closer to the city center. Unlike Haneda tho, where u can get a flight to places like JFK and LHR, you will only find regional intl / non-mainland flights, such as to HKG, Macau, Taipei Songshan, Seoul Gimpo and the previously named Tokyo Haneda. Before 2016, the intl terminal (T1, it also is home to domestic budget airlines such as Spring Airlines) was dirty, cramped and very outdated. T2, the domestic terminal, is much nicer and is akin to a major super connector like Doha and Dubai. Now T1 is a lot nicer but very small. If ur flying from those cities I mentioned before directly or u choose to fly ANA or Cathay (the 2 major intl / non-mainland airlines that service SHA), fly to SHA.
The issue for you at Shanghai is that foreigners (without a proper 30 day visa) can only transit through one airport before either leaving the country or staying in China (with a proper visa). Your itinerary showed two transits. You are lucky they let you board in Malaysia. Look it up online and you'll see what I mean.
yup，he went to chengdu without a visa😂🎉
Exactly the reason why he waited at immigration for a long time, cuz the transit visa has the restrictions of the provinces he would be able to visit. But it was so nice for immigration officers to grant him the visa and just let him go😂😂
I visited China many times during the early 2000s. Always amazed me in Shanghai how fast I could get through the airport and headed to my hotel, though I was usually traveling on a business Visa. Seemed eerily quiet at the airport, I remember a lot more crowds. Great video Noel, I’m really interested in your next flight.
A much better product than most European airlines. Nice video Noel
Hi Noel great video as always. I was very nervous first time into China. In 2019 went in across 4 different country land borders; immigration staff always helpful if you do everything by the rules.
I haven’t visited China for a very long time. I enjoyed my stays there. Met some very nice locals also.
I have been to Beijing twice. Once to Xian. Once to Hong Kong. I found most of the people welcoming and friendly. I stayed in each place about eight days.
WeChat is a common communication platform in China. I used something different at that time.
Funny about what you said about the tomato juice. When I was a child my grandmother would buy tomato juice. The brand was V-8, or Sacramento.
That Business Class looked very nice. I usually fly coach. But this past March I moved back from living in Bangkok for three years. I treated myself one way Business Class. It was on JAL, BKK to EWR. The Business Class section looked like it needed a makeover. And the food both western and Japanese. Was not good at all.
I took inspiration from your video and whilst in Seoul decided I would utilise the 144hour visa (I’m Australian passport).
I initially booked a Seoul - Guangzhou- Shanghai flight.
At check in , I was denied because you cannot stop in 2 Chinese cities, only 1.
Thus I booked a flight for Seoul directly to Shanghai.
In shanghai , Chinese immigration did their jobs well in the way of applying to regulations whilst having very good customer service skills.
I will stay in Shanghai for 4 days before flying to Bangkok.
PS: I was surprised I wasn’t asked for a COVID test at all either.
China is a fantastic place to visit! So much history, fantastic scenery (guiding river cruise and visit is a must do) language barrier can be difficult at times but can be overcome!
The check in staff should have just given you the website link for the Customs Health Declaration, rather than having you download wechat for it. I don't think she was properly trained
She just expects all people flying to China to have WeChat, which, to be fair, most of the Chinese does use WeChat.
Since other means of communication are mostly blocked, especially the E2EE ones. So the only thing left are basically WeChat and QQ. QQ are kinda old now, thus WeChat is much more popular.
True, although, to be fair, WeChat is used by EVERYONE in China, it really is difficult to do anything in China without WeChat installed. It is truly the 'everything' app in China, and is the way most people pay for, well, everything. It's also very common in other parts of Asia so it's probably quick surprising that a person flying to China wouldn't already have it installed.
She is cute but poorly trained. China does NOT force visitors to download WeChat to make health declaration for entry. I've used the website multiple times in the last 2 months and no issue at all.
Yeah they have stands that have the WeChat QR code on the front and website QR code on the back
Ahhh good old Shanghai I lived there from 2002-2012 best time of my life! I hope you get a chance to go back soon and take the Maglev! Some very delicious food in Shangers and a lot of places to wet your whistle! All the best to Rachael!
I love tomato juice 😂 yes I do buy it at the supermarket lol. Another great review, glad you got in to China, look forward to the upcoming vids over the next few weeks.
Glad to see you're back. Hope Rachel is recovering from her surgery.
Great to see another video from Lord Noel! Hopefully Rachel is doing better. Thanks so much for this new upload Lord. Best wishes to Rachel, GOD bless! 💕
This is the type of video I needed during a stressful travel period 😢❤❤
I'm amazed and impressed that they let you film in the immigration area.
Yep, me too!
@@petermorgan4720 he will be in trouble soon ..
Chinese are super scare to talk to Westerners in English.
@@chocolate-ou4kq😂cus most Chinese don't speak English
he's not carrying camera… also it's forbidden to film custom for sure
Loved this edition of ur travels as it gave such a fun insight into, a quite understandably, dubious situation. Nice that everything worked out so well for you and had a better experience than anticipated
Sure I’m not the only one half expecting this to go the same way Josh’s china adventures went 😂
nah Noel is good publicity for any airline he flies on. So long as you don't abandon him and refuse to refund his money and have multiple emergency landings with him on board
Josh who??
What's his channel???
@@Blackwolffe097 Josh Cahill
Well in this video he said he’s never been to China but he posted the C919 video a month ago and is now out of China - which means things probably went alright
@@Blackwolffe097don’t bother. A soppy communist. This channel is good but he’s a soppy lettuce who is political.
Great to see your back posting. Hope Rachel is recovering well.
Apparently tomato juice and ginger beer are popular on flights because they have a flavour profile that tastes good with the physiological changes that dull the senses in a pressurised cabin. I think Captain Joe or 74 Gear talked about it in a video years ago. Heston Blumenthal also did a TV show about designing the ideal in-flight food, in which he learned about how the dry air in an aeroplane affects our sense of taste and smell. There are compounds in tomato juice that are among those least affected by the dulling of taste.
Noel, I have never had tomato juice at home but it has been a tradition for me to have a glass of tomato juice (no ice) on one leg of every flight. Have been doing it for 40 years. A tradition does not always require a reason. One of my sons has started doing that as well. Cheers!
What an adventure so far. 😎. Wonderful to hear Rachel is doing well. 🙏💐💖
I can see why you were nervous. I figured the whole idea with the transit was to stay overnight and depart from the same city the next day. I’m glad they let you do it tho!
China actually has very good transit visas..
Both Shanghai and Beijjng actually have 144-hr visas, and you can travel a decent distance away.
A pre-Covid trip I flew into Shanghai, visited Wuxi and Hangzhou and flew out of Hangzhou airport six days later
@@mark123655 ah gotcha, I’d love to visit China someday. I go to Japan regularly but have never been anywhere else in the far east,
@@Papershields001Welcome
This has to be one of your best videos in a while (not being rude, its the benchmark is really high, as they are all very good). Really enjoyed watching this
Hi Noel! I love seeing your videos! I hope that Rachel is feeling better.
Thank you so much! Rach is getting better.
Good to see you back, and hope your wife is better. Really enjoyed your beets by Schrute t-shirt
Very interesting video. Having printed copies of everything you might get asked for smoothed your way through. The immigration staff were very polite & coped well with an unusual situation. Your video makes me want to try a visit to China or Hong Kong😀
I think they were pretty rude 😂 But they are just rude to everyone.
Try Being Airport for the most authentic surveillance state vibes...
The best! Really enjoyed this one. I've experienced the same apprehension on some of my past travels. Thank you for doing this.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I didn't know you could enter without a visa!! So I think that went very well. Also China is VERY modern now. (I live in Hong Kong)
Only certain cities allow certain transit visa. Shanghai is one of them. Most actually don't.
Starting to like your videos more and more. I was nervous for you, I am the worst. Great to see how friendly people were.
I've been to China many times and it's amazing, jaw dropping in places. You have to go to Huangshan mountain and Zhangjiajie (avatar was filmed there!)
👋👋👋Just discovered your channel, and I absolutely love the content you make . Keep up the great work.💯
Awesome! Thank you!
Glad to hear Rachael is doing well. Also great to have the content back
Always a bit anxious when approaching immigration in Asia. Glad that you captured it on video even though it's generally prohibited but good to see that you were treated respectfully even though most customs officers don't have much charisma the Chinese have more than most!
Yes, all of "Asia" is one big monolith.😒
Had a similar experience transiting through Guangzhou on the way through to Europe. It can be a little challenging but all the airport staff were great. Very little English and I had no Mandarin but got there in the end
I had a 20 hour transit in Guangzhou on my route from Amsterdam - Melbourne. They didn’t let me enter on a 24hr transit visa unfortunately not sure if because it was lost in translation or they simply didn’t wanna let me in.
They actually speak Cantonese in Guangzhou...
Great video and what a lovely flight 😊 Chinese staff seem very helpful too.
Tomoto juice under that pressure actually test different and really good. I think its the salt in it. It has been said that the low pressure inside the plane changes/enhances our taste buds
Wow! Intense.😬 I'm happy you enjoyed your flight.🙂 As always save travels.✈️
I flew Shanghai Airlines from Beijing - Seoul once as part of a trip with China Eastern. One bloke lit up a cigarette mid-flight, I think he'd almost finished it by the time the cabin crew noticed :D
Great vlog Noel, not sure who was more nervous, me or you.
Chris.
Pre-pandemic you could enter China on a transit visa, issued on arrival, that could last several days depending on which airport you arrived at. It was positively promoted by the airlines and tourist agency. My kids used it when they did their North Korea trip, staying a couple of days in Beijing either side of the flights to and from Pyongyang. I think one of the stipulations was that you had to stay within the metropolitan area of your arrival airport though.
Yes, they've a 144-hour visa-free transit visa 😀
Missed you since the last vlog. While you may be nervous there is the exhilaration of something so new. For you the world traveler thats something special! Keep us posted!
I missed a weeks post because my wife had a medical emergency, while we were traveling. She had surgery & we came back home, last week & she is recuperationg now.
Noel. WeChat is common throughout much of Asia. I recommend having it. Don't worry, China has great planes and great infrastructure/hotels/etc. You likely took the Maglev to the city from the airport and arrived in 20 minutes or so. Bling bling. Enjoy.
We’re flying from BUD to PVG and then onwards to SYD in business class with Shanghai Airlines/China Eastern and attempting to get the TWOV as well, this has been exceptionally helpful, thank you!
Another amazing video Noel 😁 always wondered what it would be like travelling to china. Haha certainly got me nervous seeing you go throw the airport but glad you got through without any issues. AV geek card was key haha 😁 hope you get to go on the C919 aircraft. I hope Rachel is feeling much better also 🙏
Yes this plane was beautiful & it looked so clean! I'm sorry u had confusion that caused some anxiety. I'm glad Josh was able to help u out! Happy New Year to you and your lovely family! I enjoy ur videos so much! Kind of off the subject, but how is Rachel doing? I have M.S., Lupus & Osteoarthritis so ik how it feels 2b in pain. I hope she's ok & doing well! I hope this new year has her feeling less pain! She's always in my 🙏's! Can u do a video with ur family soon especially u & ur son? If so, can he do the "Loo Review"? He's great...a "mini U" in the making!
Thank you for your kind words. Rachel is doing well, thank you for asking.
Great to have your videos back Noel! Hope Rachel is doing OK
Glad to see you back.
Was a bit worried about you, Noel, not having seen your videos in a while.
I have travelled many times through China enroute to my house in the Philippines. The first time can be quite a bit confusing, but, overall, I've never had any problems transiting.
Heavens , mega touch & go there Noel! At least the flight was a good one😀👍
Hey you really have some guts filming custom and the officers. Good luck traveling to China again as this has been forwarded to them for review.
As a Chinese person who was born in the US and lived here my whole life, I would love to go to China. It scares me to death the thought of going to China but I still want to do it. My Mom, brother, sister, Grandma, and uncle went to China to meet up with another uncle and his family who lives there in like 2016. One thing everyone got to do was see the terracotta warriors, something that is off limits but my one uncle who lives in China managed to do through a perk of working for the company that's important to the health of every human past, present and future.
Hi Noel! Greetings from a Chinese fan! It's great to see you in my home country and I hope you enjoyed the trip besides the C919 flight.
Some quick thoughts:
1. I really don't get the QR code stuff, which is still ridiculously required in the summer of 2023. Let alone they ask foreigners to use Wechat to run the whole process.
2. That being said, the entry requirement is such a relief in comparison with in 2022, which by then was a nightmare. I was deterred by the complicated testing requirements and extremely expensive flight tickets (Imagine a one-way economy ticket SFO-PVG that cost $4000+) and have not gone back since Covid.
3. The travel experience with Chinese carriers could be quite different, depending on the performance of the cabin crew, even within the same airline. And there could also be a huge difference of experience if the passenger speaks Chinese. I think many FAs do speak good English but something can get lost in translation. For example, some senior FAs from Air China tend to take care of passengers like a lovely old lady from the neighborhood in Beijing and that subtle difference might be difficult to perceive in another language.
Anyway, hope you can visit China pretty soon and have more time exploring other Chinese carriers.
Hi Noel! Also as a fan of China, I would like to add a few extra points:
1. Shanghai Airlines was originally an independent airline, but in 2009, China Eastern merged it. It kept the original branding, but a lot of it became aligned with China Eastern. (You can totally see Shanghai Airlines as a part of China Eastern Airlines)
2. What you may not know is that there is actually a website you can use to fill in the customs declaration code in addition to WeChat. But a lot of airline flight attendants don't explain this.
3. Quite a few Chinese airlines start the descent preparation procedure very early in the morning, mainly because quite a few Chinese domestic flights often have substantial bumps during descent.
(If these are wrong, please correct them in the reply)
Hi Noel - I life in Houston Texas from houston - so glad you and your family have moved to Houston - praying for you and your family - if you ever do a TH-cam group meetup I would love to meet your family - thank you for your wonderful lovely reviews - I am in Amsterdam now - I so much want to go throughout Europe - we will see - God bless you friend and God bless your TH-cam channel Sir !
Thank you so much!
I hope Rachel is feeling better!❤
Terrific video. I traveled to Shanghai many times in the late 90's/early 20's. I always stayed at the Portman Ritz Carlton. It was like a little western city block with American restaurants and Irish pubs. I had a great time when I visited. I had a visa, which made it as easy as traveling to any other country. I'm not sure if it's more difficult to get a visa to China now. I'm also not sure, given the country's leadership in China, that I'd want to revisit the place.
Thanks for your content. It never disappoints!
I'm in Hong Kong and anything to do with China is WeChat, even my landlord only uses that not WhatsApp. Hope Rach is recovering well.
Noel I'm going to say this your loo reviews is top notch, and especially with the animation, which Josh Cahill's loo reviews lack lol! and thank you for pronouncing Shanghai correctly lol
I transited in Wuhan on 31st December 2019.... The airport transit area was being renovated so they had me actually enter China and check in again for my onward flight. I expected the 1 day transit visa but the entry stamp was for 3 months. I had 7 hours in-between flights so took a taxi ride around the city to kill the time.
Airports in China are always extremely good in my experience...
I would have edited out the bits where you sound scared lol
Good video as always!!
So it’s you to blame for all the subsequent trouble caused from there😉😂😂
@@KimiFan2002 exactomundo
Shanghai Airlines used to be part of STAR but moved to SKYTEAM after being taken over by ChinaEastern. There originally were technicalities about the Transit Visa that required the departure flight within 72-hours and had to be from the same airport one arrived at (not just the same city), could not be a return to the initial departure country (Malaysia in your case) and could not be to an interim Chinese airport/city even if transiting. When it was first introduced I had the same issue departing SYD on SQ. Took a while at checkin to sort things out, but Also a “trip” to the supervisor when I got to PVG.
As for tomato juice, clearly you’ve not spent enough time in North America to discover the Bloody Mary or Caesar, vodka and tomato/Clamato juice (and various other spices including a spurt of your native Worcestershire sauce). It’s the Unami of tomatoes and as noted altitude that give it a special added taste at 35K feet.😮
I’ve found in Asia What’sApp is pretty universal for contacting people, cabs etc. and in China it’s WeChat.
Even in Europe whatsapp is super common
Figured a guy who runs a channel about flying international airlines or airlines would know about these things. A world traveler would know about Whatsapp or Wechat. Lack of research is the core issue here.
@@davidfrank5227They thought the whole universe should rotate around them.
In South Korea is Kakao Chat more often than not.
Fun fact: You didn’t read every word
I've never had an issue getting into China since first visited in 2008. It's actually less stressful than going through Heathrow which I always find chaotic and they are good at losing your luggage.
You have to be joking FFS, or else you haven't been back in the recent months perhaps?.. I've transited China about 6 weeks back and I'm telling you it was utter chaos - an absolute nightmare I have no desire to repeat.
News flash: we aren't in 2008 anymore. Since emperor Xinnie the Pooh took the helms & especially since he unleashed the Wu flu (sorry, need to meet my quota of truthful trigger-phrases) getting into & especially out of China isn't always as easy as you remember.
oh about heathrow, i got some experience there
I was on a buisness trip taking british airway from Singapore to Heathrow, in which they lost my baggage...
Since I was attending a meeting, I was compensated 1200 euros to buy a suit and I reclaimed my baggage when I arrived back at Singapore.
@@whohan779 , childish. This is not a political site, is it? Grow up and stop behaving like a child.
Getting your two hands fingerprinted is definitely stressful 🤣
CheckInAgent is just Doing their Job soooo :) Im also a Check in Agent and yes we are asking these questions bc we HAVE to check if (depends obviously of the passport and the FINAL and TRANSIT destination) ur need a visa/ health declarations/ electronic declarations or something else etc. Bc our check in system has a official website (it’s updated every day) wich has all the information detailed about visa etc and thats literally the most important part of our job to check that out! Otherwise when u got deported back we have to pay the fee and we don’t want that haha bc it’s a lot!!
Anyways I love ur content keep going :)
Noel, love the video but even more happy to hear Rach is doing better. I had necrotic pancreatitis 10 years ago and spent the better part of 6mo in the hospital. It's not fun to deal with but so glad to hear she's on the mend. Cheers from Seattle!
Yeah... WeChat is huge in China
Pooh chat would be bigger
It's how the government monitor its citizens, so that's probably why it is required.
@@djwoodgate *Social credit score: -1000
@@djwoodgateThe US should make Joe MaMa. It will definitely be larger than any of the social networking sites and will be 100% successful in population control which Meta, Google, Twitter and Instagram failed as they were only successful to brainwash Muricans and it's allies.
I have exactly the same reservations that you do about China. But you Noel chose to put your fears aside and go. I’m still thinking about it! 😮
We came for the planes, we stay for the random encounters noel gets himself into
Yep 100% true 👍🏻😀🇬🇧
I'm new to your channel. I had a good laugh about your WeChat experience. I went through that learning curve several years ago. Very frustrating, but not too bad once you get used to it. I do enjoy Shanghai Airlines. Not a bad airline.
As soon as you were having issues with visas I was surprised you didn’t just call Josh. Also want to say I love it how Noel is being chatted up by locals ahhaha😂
He did contact Josh.....did you not watch the video
That 'Enjoymemt Menu' suggests [ to me ] inspiration being taken from 'Massage Parlours'. Who doesn't love receiving a 'Sunrise Dream' [ wale-up indulgence ], or a 'Sunset Dream' [ bedtime indulgence ]..???
China is an amazing country Noel, you should go on a tour! Shanghai is well worth a visit, stay if you can in the Fairmont Peace Hotel on the Bund (Art deco elegance at it's best!)
It's amazing until you decide to live there and have a life.
@@geofferychang8713 living in one place is different than touring around for sure, but it is the case everywhere, for no place in this world is a flawless paradise. There are over 95.5% support rate of governement in China, highest in the world, based on survey by Harvard Kennedy school, means people are happy there. And more and more expets who planned to stay in China for short time, one month or maximum a year, ended up staying 2 years, 5 years and 10 years, even 20 years.
No country is for anyone, definitely not for a hater. Keep away from China, it will be good for both of China and you.
My friends in Scotland also like a wee chat!
We chat is like messenger or text messages it’s nothing bad 😂
Oh my word the tomato juice thing on planes...i nearly fell out of my chair when you said that. I ONLY drink tomato juice when I'm flying...and its the best when they have those cylindrical ice cubes with the holes in the middle lol that is hilarious!
Nice vid noel, I have travelled to China from both the UK and Singapore many times before and is not much different than any other country. The only thing I've found is Chinese airports love for remote stands as I have had many of them after landing
true
especially in hongqiao, they like to ship you across terminal. They will let you check in at T1 and remote bus you to a stand at t2. They simply love remote stands
VERY impressed with the Shanghai Airlines Dreamliner; however, if I travel, I think I will try to shy away from a 787, because the window dimming thing is REALLY annoying-I want to be able to look out the window from TO to LDG whenever I WANT. Suggestion: please put in the description WHEN these flights actually took place so we can judge seasons and how long ago it was; also, you just seem to wear the MOST RANDOM t-shirts when traveling, maybe something more interesting?
Shanghai Airlines is the subsidiary of China Eastern with shared operation, aircraft and staff are basically the same between the two airlines. (So if you take a domestic flight of Shanghai Airlines, you may sometimes get on an aircraft from China Eastern)
A big fan from Borneo Sabah Malaysia
I am surprised Noel you had the kahunas to film the Chinese immigration process, bearing how nervous you appeared. Well done anyway.
his camera is kind of hidden on his shoulder strap, so that's probably how he gets away with filming all this stuff.
At least now you know this bloody WeChat and Shanghai Airlines haha! Great stuff!
I always thought the rules of the transit visa was you specifically weren’t allowed to travel within china eg you cannot leave the port that you flew into (in your case PVG) to travel anywhere else except out of china.
That said, shame you didn’t get to experience the Puxi side - need to come back
That was suspenseful, but great to watch. Thanks Noel for the entertainment. 👍😊🇨🇳
Glad you enjoyed it
I don't think WeChat has any equivalent outside of China. It's so much more than a messaging/social media app, as you can see in the video. Basically, any social interaction in China requires you to either have WeChat or Alipay. And it's a huge pain to get one account for foreigners, in this sense I think China is still far from opening up for foreign travel/tourism.
It's in many parts of SE Asia
Sorry but don't agree that it's a HUGE pain to get WeChat/Alipay, I have both. Just need to follow the steps to set them each up and connect to your bank account and now your foreign CC. However as you rightly stated they are both essential in China for everything for communication, payments ,business etc. etc. One thing that makes the process easier if your planning on being in China for more than a day is to buy a local sim card, so that you can easily receive SMS txt messages. Invest in a VPN before arriving in China so that you can conveniently use Google Translate and that will help with the language barrier.
As an American, I recommend that people try to visit China. There are ways to go without a visa for up to six days but check details on that and do your homework. The next destination country has to be outside of China though. Still, don't be afraid of going to China. Don't believe the hype. Yes, it is different but people are mostly the same and they can be friendly as well.