I just arrived in Chengdu. It was my first time flying out of Nanyuan Airport in Beijing. I mean, who has ever even heard of this airport? In all of my time in China I had never come across it but it is an old decommissioned military airport that now operates some commercial flights. I think they only serve certain airlines and destinations and apparently Chengdu is one of them. Anyway, it is in the south part of Beijing and closer to the city so it actually took only 25 mins to get there from my house. The experience is rather bizarre, since it is not a "real" airport and is buried inside a massive complex of buildings and airfields, none of which appear to be operational anymore. The tree lined drive in past the security gate from the main road is pleasant and it feels strange mostly because I realize how conditioned we have become to those usual airport signs and directions indicating DEPARTURES and ARRIVALS and so on. But here it is just like someone is dropping you off at a remote run-down building, one that just happens to have a guard out front and some small signs indicating which flights are operating today. The low soviet style hall has one check in desk, one desk to buy tickets and no apparent signs of security check or gates...but I soon figured out that the security check and "gate" is in the building across the parking lot. I had been warned that security check lines were fast and there would be less crowds (yay) and it is so true--from pulling up to the curb to getting on the plane took a mere 15 minutes!
