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Review: China Eastern 737 Economy Class (KMG-LJG)

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Introduction
China Eastern 734 737-700 Economy Class Hong Kong to Kunming
Transiting Kunming Airport – International to Domestic
China Eastern 734 737-700 Economy Class Kunming to Lijiang
Jin Hong Garden Villa Lijiang
Biking in Lijiang, Day 1: Baisha Village
Biking in Lijiang, Day 2: Down to Lashi Lake
Biking in Lijiang, Day 3: Into Dali Villages
China Eastern 733 737-700 Economy Class Lijiang to Kunming
Transiting Kunming Airport – Domestic to International
China Eastern 733 737-700 Economy Class Kunming to Hong Kong


China Eastern Flight 734
Sunday, May 10th, 2015
Origin: Kunming (KMG) Gate: 24 Dep: 20:10 (21:00)
Destination: Lijiang (LJG) Gate: 3 Arr: 21:00 
(22:05)
Duration: 50 min (55 min)
Aircraft: Boeing 737-700
Seat: 43C (Economy Class)

We were stopped at the jetbridge, as apparently there was a quarrel on the aircraft.

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Jetbridge Kunming Airport

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Jetbridge Kunming Airport

Apparently boarding began on time for the passengers going from Kunming to Lijiang, and the sole business class passenger was starting to lose it as we took a little longer than expected to clear immigration. China Eastern isn’t used to 38 people taking both legs of the flight, and by the time we arrived at the aircraft, it should’ve landed at Lijiang. The delay was partially to blame, but it was also the way things turned out.

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China Eastern Boeing 737-700 Kunming Airport

The cabin temperature was substantially cooler, and I had refilled with ice cold water from Kunming, though the flight attendants went around passing out bottles of water.

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China Eastern Boeing 737-700 Business Class

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China Eastern Boeing 737-700 Economy Class

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China Eastern Boeing 737-700 Economy Class

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China Eastern Boeing 737-700 Economy Class

I found the dissected vomit bag still placed in my seatback, which showed the level of attention to detail when cleaning the plane (that said, they had only a short time, so it’s fair).

Legroom wasn’t atrocious, but it wasn’t that great either.

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China Eastern Boeing 737-700 Economy Class

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China Eastern Boeing 737-700 Economy Class Cabin view from seat 43C

It was pleasant that the air nozzles actually spewed cold air. Even though the cabin temperature was pleasant, it was still on the hot side.

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China Eastern Boeing 737-700 Economy Class Air Nozzles

The safety video played, exactly the same to the one on my last leg.

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China Eastern Boeing 737-700 Economy Class Safety Video

Soon enough we took off, and the cabin lights went off during takeoff. The plane seemed to tilt to the right side, which made for no good takeoff pictures.

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China Eastern Boeing 737-700 Economy Class Cabin during takeoff

I got a decent picture but that was about it.

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China Eastern Boeing 737-700 Economy Class View upon climbout

Pillows and blankets weren’t offered for the short flight. I attempted to sleep as my seatmates were all asleep, but resorted to reading a book as I couldn’t sleep. Hell, being in an aisle seat on a narrow 737 is hard – I can’t imagine being in a middle seat at all!

I think I’ve grown a new love for the 737, as it’s so small, you can actually feel its speed. I don’t think I’ve ever been in an aircraft that shows how fast you’re actually going as the 737 does, and I love that, as it does the amazing speed justice.

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China Eastern Boeing 737-700 Economy Class Cabin

Soon enough we were landing in Lijiang, and I was excited to exit as a domestic passenger. The lights turned off again during landing, though I couldn’t see anything down there.

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China Eastern Boeing 737-700 Economy Class Cabin during Landing

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China Eastern Boeing 737-700 Economy Class Cabin during Final Approach

We landed safely and quickly at Lijiang airport and taxied to the nearest gate. I snapped a last picture of their business class seats along the way.

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China Eastern Boeing 737-700 Business Class

While the Kunming passengers were bussed to the domestic terminal, we were let straight out of the international terminal (since our baggages still had to pass international safety standard checks) and were out into the open within five minutes, which we took a tour bus to the Jinhong Garden Villa.

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Nuclear-biological-chemical Inspection Room Lijiang Airport

Bottom line on China Eastern 737-700 Economy Class

There’s nothing remarkable, as I said on my first leg, about China Eastern’s economy class. There’s a good side to that – it wasn’t horrible. Of course, there wasn’t anything remarkable about it, especially on this incredibly short leg, but it’s not like I was up for any service in forty minutes anyway.

I definitely wasn’t looking forward to the flight, but I leave happy.

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