I was on vacation when a trip to Beijing was planned for me. The secretary, for reasons I don&#x27;t expect I&#x27;ll ever know or understand, insisted on flying Eastern China Airlines.  Complete with an extra stop in Shanghai...  It might be different now (this was like 6 years ago) but it was very much &quot;the people&#x27;s airline&quot; then.  It wasn&#x27;t just very tight seating with limited recline capacity, but there were some strong odors as well.  Not sure a valium would have got it done.  It&#x27;s the only time I attempted to buy an upgrade mid-flight.  The American flights to and from L.A. on the American side were delightful.<p>Maybe the idea was to help with the culture shock in the same way &quot;getting jumped in&quot; helps you adapt to gang-life.