THE FLIGHT:

The flight time from LAX to PVG is under 14 hours, which provides plenty of time to do it all: sleep, work, dine, watch a movie and catch up on reading materials. And while the flight is easy, some may find ordering dinner not so. Passengers are given a color-coded menu that is good for the year and thus offers pre-planned entrees in red, orange, purple and green. I referred to the orange tabbed page appropo of my month of travel and found lunch and dinner choices came as both Chinese and Western. The Chinese option featured an entrée choice of winter melon with shrimp in abalone sauce or Chinese roasted duck with sweet and sour sauce.

The Western menu offered entrée choices of pan-fried ribeye steak with baked potato or pan-friend cod with herb tomato sauce and couscous. Breakfast choices started with congee or dim sum or even air-dried eel with jellyfish and five-spicy egg. The less adventurous can opt for the tomato and cheese omelet with cranberry muffin.

Rolling out the bed was a simple affair. All seems to fit smoothly on this flight, from pad to light duvet to room needed to stretch, turn and get comfortable. Trips to the restroom are just steps away and the facility is reasonably spacious and kept clean.

Pudong International Airport is located in the Pudong New District, less than 20 miles from downtown Shanghai. It’s a modern facility which translates to clean, with timely baggage arrival and some cafes and restaurants available in the arrivals hall. For those in transit, China Eastern arrivals at PVG can take advantage of a 144-hour visa policy that allows transit passengers with a US or Ca-