The Astronomer and I caught an early flight on China Eastern Airlines to Xi’an this morning, continuing on the delicious road to Beijing.

The food on board was similar in composition to meals we’ve enjoyed prior on Cathay Pacific and United, but the quality was much poorer. My main course, noodles with ground pork, was lukewarm and oily. I ate a couple bites and passed it on to my flying companion along with the roll. The package labeled “shalom” contained some sort of vegetable matter, but it was much too early in the morning to experiment with vacuum sealed vegetation. The apple chips, which were seedless and peel-less, were the highlight of my mile-high breakfast.

The Astronomer’s chicken and rice wasn’t any better. “It was bland, but wasn’t disgusting,” said The Astronomer. “It’s not like I was afraid it was going to make me sick.” And there you have it.