[hkskyline]

HKG-TAO

So where to go for a long weekend break? Typically, Hong Kongers fly to Taiwan or Thailand for a relaxing short holiday, but I wanted to go somewhere cooler and sunnier. Qingdao came back onto my radar. Having last been in 2007 on a group tour and impressed by the architecture, 3 days would be a decent amount of time to explore the city on my own. Winters are typically sunny in northern China, and the weather forecast called for wonderful sunny weather for the entire weekend.

On Thursday, 2 days before departure, I checked BA Avios, which was the cheapest way to redeem on Cathay Dragon at 15,000 points. Nothing. Before and after - still nothing. Then I hopped over to Asia Miles, which had plenty of availability across multiple days. As I clicked through the flight selection, I noticed there was a redemption promotion remark at the end of the booking and the final cost was only 16,000 Asia Miles (as opposed to 20,000). I wasn't aware there was a promotion happening but apparently from late February to mid-March, redemptions to select destinations were eligible, mostly regional short-hauls.

On Saturday morning, I decided to sleep in a bit more and use my mobile boarding pass to board so I didn't need to rush to meet the 50 minute check-in deadline at the airport. I collect boarding passes these days, expecting the paper versions will turn obsolete in the near future. Sadly, Cathay has started using black-and-white cheap printouts, greatly reducing the collection value.

Security didn't take long and I was air-side within minutes. First, more plane spotting.





Today's flight is operated by the A330, one of my favourite aircraft types thanks to its humane seating plan of 2-4-2, where the window seat was never too far away from the aisle. It was also parked very close to immigration at Gate 21. Boarding was timely and I was surprised there wasn't a long boarding queue at all.



Since I had a mobile boarding pass, the agent had to do the detailed ID check at the gate.

Soon, I was comfortably seated at the front row thanks to an early online check-in. Loading was quite light today and we pushed back slightly ahead of schedule for the long taxi to take-off.











We were held for quite some time as other planes passed and took off ahead.











It would have been a spectacular harbour view if the weather was better.











I had the entire row all to myself. We initially flew south then east before looping back a bit west then north to track the coast.



Meanwhile, breakfast was served. The dim sum platter had more variety than the typical breakfasts I have had with this airline group.









The flight path skirted along the coast and the weather was sunny most of the way. By now, we were near Shanghai.











The A330 was quite empty. I guess people didn't want to visit Qingdao during the colder parts of the year despite the sunshine.



The seats look like Cathay's stock.



The lavatory was well-stocked for this short-haul flight with face moisturizer and hand lotion.



The IFE is the same as Cathay's but they changed the name to StudioKA for branding purposes.



We cruised at 40,000 feet but quickly descended 10,000 feet just past Shanghai despite still having a long way to go to Qingdao. We remained at the lower altitude until final descent.









It was a smoggy day, which made it difficult to spot the exact features as we entered the city's eastern side and flew past the airport before looping back for touchdown.























Not many widebodies at this airport, which is typical for the second and third tier city airports.







The front row is indeed more comfortable with 2 windows and being before the engine, seemed quieter.





We parked at the end of the terminal, but it wasn't a very long walk to an otherwise empty immigration area since I was at the front part of the plane.





Within 20 minutes from parking at the gate, I was on the bus ready to head into the city. With only hand luggage, it was a breeze through customs and the X-ray machine. The only down-side was the long walk to the domestic side of the terminal for the buses. I hope the metro link to the airport can finish soon.



Airport bus 701 departs every 30 minutes. There is an attendant standing outside the bus to check your ticket and ask where you are going in Mandarin. For the Copthorne Hotel, you get off at the Carrefour across the street. Then the driver will place your luggage in a dedicated compartment for your stop. 45 minutes later, I was in the heart of the new town for my luxury apartment high in the sky.



The eastern part of the city is relatively new with lots of new developments.











More photos on my website : http://www.globalphotos.org/ka-qingdao.htm