Must-See Highlights on the New Aircraft!Landscape Paintings in the Restroom — Unboxing of China Airlines’ New B777 Aircraft

Reported & photographed by You [reporter name redacted] / Onboard China Airlines

After officially taking delivery on October 4, China Airlines’ new B777-300ER aircraft began non-stop flights to Bangkok today (14th). The brand-new cabin interior was designed by designer Chen Ruixian, themed around Song Dynasty aesthetics to bring Taiwanese imagery on board. Reporters took an actual flight and used the onboard three-hour Wi-Fi service to file this report, while also being guided by Chen Ruixian to introduce readers of ETtoday EBC News Cloud to every detail of the aircraft’s facilities.

% Chief Designer Chen Ruixian.


Must-See Highlights

The entire aircraft is designed in the style of Song Dynasty aesthetics, with the creator of Eslite Bookstore, Chen Ruixian, leading the design. As you enter, the first visual impact comes from the main aesthetic focus.Chestnut wood grain decorates the cabin.It’s the first time in the aviation industry that chestnut wood grain has been used to create a unique ambiance within the cabin space. Additionally,the first landscape paintings in airplane restrooms:featuring works such as Fan Kuan’s “Travelers Among Mountains and Streams” from the Northern Song Dynasty. Some restrooms include window designs to enhance passenger comfort, along with the fun of finding figures hidden in the artwork.


 ▲% The design theme of the aircraft is the aesthetics of the Song Dynasty.


Sky Lounge
The Sky Lounge area in the center of Business Class is exquisitely styled and full of refined pleasures. It is inspired by the verse of Song Dynasty poet Lu You: “I remember setting off on a long journey with just a light pack, never minding the distance between waterways and mountain posts.” This offers a travel living space that blends Eastern and Western cultural philosophies. The left side features a “Cultural Creative Tea Area,” offering six selected locally sourced Taiwanese teas representing the East, while the right side’s “Fashionable Coffee Area” displays rich capsule coffee representing the West as well as locally grown Dongshan coffee from Taiwan, served with classic Western pastries.

Besides tea and coffee, Chinese snacks such as mung bean cake and pineapple cake are also available for Business Class passengers to help themselves at any time. Chen Ruixian said: “We hope more international passengers can feel the beauty of Taiwan as soon as they board.” In the central bar area, there are cocktails, bar snacks, as well as hearty seafood and rich mushroom-flavored instant noodles. The bookshelf-like spaces on both sides also offer Chinese and English books updated monthly.


▲% The Sky Lounge in the center of the cabin is exquisitely styled and full of refined pleasures.
 

First-Ever In-Flight Seating Chat Feature – Seat Chat
A first-in-Taiwan seating communication feature: friends seated apart can chat via the built-in system. This chatting function allows travelers to message each other, and even make new friends. It supports Chinese, English, and Japanese. Users may also choose to disable the feature to avoid interruptions. Moreover, you can instantly recommend your favorite music, movies, or games to friends and family onboard.

At the same time, China Airlines provides Wi-Fi services onboard, with pricing options such as USD 11.95 for 1 hour, USD 16.95 for 3 hours, and USD 21.95 for 24 hours. In our test, although the internet speed isn’t as fast as on the ground, it was smooth enough for sending social media messages, browsing various webpages, and sending voice messages. Although you can't use more than one device at a time after purchase, you can switch between devices using the same account.


▲% The aircraft's chatting design allows different passengers to communicate easily.
 

Cabin Features

Luxury Business Class
18-inch — the industry’s largest screen. Chen Ruixian mentioned that since many of his previous works involved designing bookstores, he creatively embedded a reading lamp into the Business Class seat, giving passengers the warmth of reading at home and a sense of being in a study. Luxury Business Class offers fully flat 180-degree reclining seats with a total length of 198 cm. Instead of traditional touch panels, the armrests feature simple, intuitive graphical control panels.


▲ A reading lamp is cleverly embedded into the seat, providing a cozy reading atmosphere.

Chen Ruixian said the blankets in Luxury Business Class are highly fashionable, made of wool-blend fabric in dual tones of indigo-purple and mustard yellow. The tableware was designed by Mr. Chen Junliang, an art designer and one of the world’s top ten designers nominated for the Tang Prize — often dubbed the “Eastern Nobel Prize.” He referenced over 3,000 pieces of Chinese historical ceramics, such as Song Dynasty kui-patterned plates, Yuan Dynasty tall-footed bowls, and Qing Dynasty blue-and-white porcelain. He blended these traditional Chinese aesthetics with modern sensibilities to create China Airlines’ stylish tableware.


▲% The blanket in the business class features fashionable dual-tone wool, and the tableware was designed by famous designer Chen Junliang.