Have you flown China Air from SFO to Teipei?

Here is one review from this site

“SFO-TPE in economy class. Overall impression is of a safe and reliable airline which offers good value for money. Vegetarian meal requested was so-so; served chicken on the return leg which was replaced with a fruit platter! There are no personal TV screens but they did show recent popular English movies on the large screens. Air-hostesses are well groomed and efficient.”

The type of entertainment may vary and is usually listed on the airline’s site, as it varies by aircraft used.

Read through the reviews for yourself. Code for TaIpei is TPE.

Make sure you are looking for China Airlines, as Air China is a completely different airline with reviews that are not as positive. If it is Air China that you are looking for, you can search for the reviews on the same site.

Here is another review from the same site for China Airlines, that includes the SFO-TPE route that you asked about, but gives more in-cabin info:

“SFO-TPE-BKK return Economy. SFO-TPE on 747–400. Aircraft showing its age and amount of use, but the was clean and seats tolerable. Only single screen entertainment was offered. Food was acceptable, thought they are not very generous with soft drinks – we only got about three ounces a serving. Flight attendants very good – constantly offering water and juice. Breakfast served before landing in Taipei. TPE to BKK on A330–300. Seats more comfortable than on the 747 and provided AVOD. Service and food both acceptable. BKK to TPE on 747–400. Although there was a line for check-in, the wait was no longer than 5 minutes. Again, aircraft was showing its age and had a certain amount of wear and tear, but clean. No AVOD, only single screen. Flight attendants had a more limited command of English than transpacific staff. Meal service efficient, but the meal was not very appetizing. They were more generous with soft drinks. Transiting TPE was a bit questionable. We had to go through security and only one line was open, so the line was very long. We arrived at our gate one hour after arriving in TPE just in time for boarding. TPE to SFO on 747–400. No AVOD, single screen. Catering options were the same as on all other flights. By the 4th time of being offered the same thing, it was pretty boring and unappetizing. Flight attendants friendly and efficient. Breakfast served prior to arriving in SFO – breakfast time in TPE perhaps, but dinner time in SFO.”

Airline seating guide

Thanks, I saw these, too. I was hoping to find someone with first hand experience out of curiousity.
We have tickets & are going no matter what, but it’s an unknown airline…

Evidently from what I was reading, one airline is based in Taiwan (the one that gets the more positive ratings and the other is a government run airline in China and there is a big difference between the two. In any case, I’ve always found it better not to depend on the airline’s entertainment for long flights. Sometimes the systems don’t work that well, or they don’t have what you want to see. We flew one overseas flight that had a great variety, but after the first start of the system, it was hard to tell when the other selections began, as they were all different times.

The last time I was in Asia, we took Pan Am, so you know that was a while ago. Wish I could help more. I usually just took a good book, but that was before iPods, of course.

Have a great trip!