China 2024
China is one of the major players on the current military market with a lot of new designs being introduced on a regular bases. A lot of these could be witnessed at the 2024 China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition. This edition was not easy to organise and we had to overcome several hurdles.
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On Tuesday 12 November 2024, around 8:30 in the morning, the travellers for the China/Zhuhai’24 tour were ready at the well-known Meeting point at Schiphol Plaza. When checking in for the long flight to Beijing, it turned out that the planned transfer in Frankfurt was changed to a transfer in Munich due to a strike. In itself not a problem, if it were not for the fact that we would arrive in Beijing a good 6 hours later. Baggage drop and the usual security all went smoothly. The flight to Munich was right on time, as was the long flight to Beijing.
Upon our arrival early afternoon in China on Wednesday 13 November, after the usual customs paperwork and formalities, our guide and the bus were waiting. We also met up with a number of participants of the tour who had travelled to Beijing on their own. Due to the much later arrival, the original program had to be altered.
Today, there was sufficient time so we could climb the Great Wall of China at Mutianyu before it got dark. The weather was not that great, but we were still able to get a good impression of this immense structure and its history. When it got dark, we left by bus for our hotel in the center of Beijing. After checking in everybody for one night, a first local restaurant was tested by the group and found to be extremely tasty.
This morning, Thursday 14 November 2024, a visit to the large PLAAF museum in Datangshan was on the program. After breakfast our bus and guide brought us quickly to the entrance of the museum, exactly at the opening hour. After some entrance formalities (passport check anyone?) everyone was let loose in this large museum known for its rows of MiGs and many special aircraft. At 12 o’clock the group gathered again to go to a local restaurant for lunch. After lunch we headed for the airport, because just after 16:00hrs our flight to Zhuhai left. Check-in + bag-drop went smoothly, even though no one spoke a word of English. Here we said goodbye to Susan, our guide for Beijing.
The Air China flight to Zhuhai was perfectly on time, but uneventful. Upon arrival in Zhuhai a number of participants joined the group. Our guide was already waiting for us as well as the bus that then efficiently brought us to our hotel for the coming nights.
Today, Friday 15 November 2024, we had to get up early. After an extensive and very tasty breakfast our bus took us to the south side of the airfield. Here the organisation of the air show has built a kind of grandstand against a hill. This grandstand is exactly opposite the airshow exhibition grounds. A very good place for the photographers! For the majority of our group we had managed to arrange access to be able to watch the flying demonstrations from here with the sun in the back. Now it turned out that the sun did not want to show itself, we got thick and low clouds, but oh well. A few of our group had access to an abandoned hotel that is run by the Airshow Photoclub during the show. From the balcony of this hotel you have a beautiful view of the runway and the flying events.
A strange thing for Zhuhai is that for the flying demonstrations regular civil air traffic is stopped for a few hours. Nevertheless, the duration of the air show is still reasonable with a little under 4 hours. Highlights of this Friday were; 3 PLAN J15s, 2x PLAAF J20s, a fly-by of the new J-35 (which had disappeared into the low clouds well before the exhibition area), Ba Yi (August 1st) with their J-10s, the Su-57 demo as well as the Russian Knights. The flying was rounded off with several Chinese helicopters. Very exotic for Europeans! Around 17:00hrs it started to get dark and our bus picked us up again to take us back to the hotel. Despite the fact that the sun was absent, everyone was very satisfied with the score of this first day.
Also in the weekend we had to get up early. After another extensive breakfast our bus took us again to the south side of the airfield. For today, Saturday 16 November 2024, we had access for everyone at the Airshow Photoclub at the abandoned hotel. Fortunately, the weather was a bit better than Friday. A lot less clouds and halfway through the afternoon there was even some sunshine. The flying program was largely the same as Friday. Difference being that the J-20s flew with four today, of which 2 made a full stop after flying a few laps. Also the single fly-by of the J-35 was now reasonably visible and photographable. In the evening of course the group went on another adventure to a local restaurant for a bite and a drink.
Also on Sunday 17 November 2024 we were up early for the last day of the show. The bus brought us to the exhibition grounds on the north side of the airport. Arranging tickets for the show was very challenging this time, so some of our group had to go to the hotel on the south side today instead of scouring the exhibition halls, static show and flight line and the humongous crowds. The weather forecast for today could be summed up with one word; ‘wet’. The local rain radar showed a large rain area that would not have passed until the end of the day. Unfortunately this turned out to be correct. We had to take shelter from (heavy) rainfall for the vast majority of the day. Because of this, the flying program was also postponed until late in the afternoon and greatly reduced. When the weather was finally acceptable, a small number of acts flew around the block until dusk fell. At the beginning of the evening, after having spent some time gathering everybody of the group to our bus, it was back to the hotel, food, drinks, etc.
Today, Monday 18 November 2024, was the departure day for most of the static and air show participating aircraft, as well as the start of our return trip home. After checking out of our hotel, our bus took us for the last time to the south side of the airport, to the deserted hotel. With mild, hazy sunshine it was much more pleasant to hang out on the balcony than the past few days. Most of the participating aircraft left in a steady stream. Together with some PLAAF transport flights to move material it was a pleasant day along the runway. However, not all aircraft left. The H-6, which everyone secretly hoped for, only made an (impressive!) engine run but was quickly wrapped in its covers. The PLAN Flankers had some technical trouble and got stuck on the flightline. Around 5 pm our bus took us to the Zhuhai terminal for the start of the long journey home. Here we said goodbye to a handful of group members who travelled home on their own. At the check-in desks, local staff appeared to speak almost no English, so the check-in was anything but smooth. But at the end of the process, it seemed that everyone had their boarding passes and that the luggage was labelled to the correct destination.
Our flight from Zhuhai to Beijing on Tuesday 19 November 2024 went without a hitch. However, in Beijing it turned out that the departure times of the flights to Europe were somewhat delayed. Also at PEK airport, we said goodbye to a number of participants who were travelling back home on other flights. Due to the late departure from Beijing, we missed the connecting flight to Amsterdam. After some rebooking problems, there were enough seats for our group on the next flight to Schiphol. So with a few hours delay, we finally landed back in the Netherlands. At the luggage carousel, it turned out that all our luggage had made it. Hands were shaken and goodbyes were said. And so, our very interesting China experience came to an end!
