Day 1: Mon 24 Sep – Sydney to Beijing

I met Jane at Gate 54 of the Sydney International Terminal ready for the long flight to Beijing.  After a false start, that is, we thought we were boarding, when we were not, we finally took off about 10 minutes late.  We were flying Air China and as neither of us had flown with this airline before, we had no expectations.  The seats reclined, the meals were reasonable and the movie choice was not too bad, if you could make the in-flight entertainment system work; after much pressing of buttons, it finally worked.  The only thing that was missing was the in-flight socks and eyeshades.  Thank goodness I had bought my own eyeshades as we were seated near an exit, so the light stayed on all flight – very annoying when you are trying to sleep, knowing you need to be wide awake and on the ball from the time you arrive for at least 18 hours afterwards.  We were fed and watered twice and arrived feeling quite comfortable, albeit a little tired. 

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