Sichuan Airlines to Chengdu

Getaway day, and one last breakfast at wonderful La Dolce Vita at the People's Grand Hotel. 

First order of business after breakfast was a stop at a nearby eye glasses shop to repair Mrs. SFO777's sun glasses.   LOL on the Helen Keller brand of glasses.  

We bid adieu to the wonderful staff and headed out around 11:30am.

Yes, another beautiful day in paradise.  Ha.

First stop was Hanyang Tomb.

And then to Xian International Airport.

Where China Southern handled check-in for Sichaun Airlines.  So far, so good.

Security was interesting and completely different from Beijing.  Today, all of our aerosols were confiscated as fire hazards.  Yo guys, there are in carry-ons, not checked bags. Jeez.

With nearly 90 minutes to departure, we headed for the China Southern Lounge.  This place was so crowded and uninspiring that we decided to just head to and wait at the gate.

So far so good, although I would soon learn that this was far from the truth.

OK, there's the first sign of trouble.   Our 3:05pm flight is now showing Delayed.

Time to head to the gate, where absolutely no one spoke English.  LOL.   Hilarity ensured as I attempted to communicate with a friendly agent.  Via mostly sign language, I got the message that our plane had just left... Xian.  It was flying to Chengdu, then it will return to pick us up... about 4 hours later.    Improvised signage at the gate...

With nearly 4 hours to wait, we decided that the China Southern Lounge didn't look too bad after all, especially now that there was some seating available.

Another translation challenged attempt.  Yes, by all means, let's call our program the Simple Business Club.  LOL.

When we arrived, we were in between meal time and the food pickings were very slim.

Meanwhile, on a Starbucks run, I saw an outpost of one of Mrs. SFO777's favorite Paris stores.  Not surprisingly, she and Mrs. SFO777Jr high tailed it over to check it out.

With the help of EF and flightaware, I figured out where the inbound flight was and we headed to the still designated Gate H53.  When a Sichaun Airlines plane pulled in to Gate H51, I wandered over to discover that indeed this would be our plane, as the H51 gate monitor confirmed.

... as did the more traditional "monitor".  LOL.

Gate lice, Xian style.

We were able to bypass most of the crowd when I moved to the right of the podium and shouted the universal language  "First Class".    On board, a pleasant domestic three row First Class cabin.

Although not much of a bulkhead divider between First and Economy. 

As bad as the ground service was, on board it was completely different.  Outstanding service from a wonderful cabin crew and in particular our cute FA.   Pre Departure beverage and peanuts.

Nice slippers and pillow.

Our delightful FA...

The Sichuan Airlines route map.

Three of us ordered beer and this is what I got.  Apparently, there was only one can on board and our FA split it three ways.  LOL.

I wasn't very hungry but took the meal for the photo opp.

Better late than never... four hours later we're in Chengdu.