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THE ALVIATOR'S VERDICT
Not a contender for the world's best hub business class lounge, though I was pleasantly surprised by the serene space and good food quality |
4.0
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In November 2025, I visited the China Eastern lounge in the domestic side of Shanghai Pudong Airport, open to the airline’s premium passengers as well as AmEx Platinum cardholders with a China Eastern itinerary. I was flying a China Eastern itinerary from Madrid to Shenzhen, connecting through Shanghai. This is one of three lounges that domestic China Eastern passengers have access to at Shanghai Pudong’s Terminal 1.
While the lounge isn’t particularly modern or impressive, I appreciated the serene space to wait for my flight, and also thought the dining options were quite plentiful. Here’s my review of China Eastern’s domestic lounge at Shanghai Pudong Airport.
China Eastern Lounge 35 PVG Access and Opening Hours
China Eastern’s Lounge 35 at Shanghai Pudong Airport is open to all passengers departing on domestic flights from Shanghai Pudong Airport’s Terminal 1. The lounge can be accessed by:
- China Eastern/Shanghai Airlines first and business class passengers
- Business class passengers on any SkyTeam airline departing domestically (in theory – in practice, no SkyTeam airlines depart domestically out of PVG T1)
- AmEx Platinum cardholders, provided that you are flying a China Eastern or Shanghai Airlines itinerary
- You can also purchase access to this lounge from 230 CNY (£24.41/HK$254)
China Eastern’s Lounge 101 has identical access requirements, and is located in the newer Satellite terminal. You’ll be able to return to the “main” terminal afterwards if you elect to use that lounge instead. Other China Eastern lounges in Terminal 1’s domestic area don’t allow AmEx cardholders to enter.
China Eastern Lounge 35 PVG Location
I was able to very easily spot signage for the China Eastern lounge, which was located right after security, before we got to the gate area.
Shanghai Pudong Airport Lounge Signage
For some reason all of China Eastern’s lounges are branded as Roywing lounges (not just this one), though signage was quite easy to find. There was a lounge attendant downstairs checking boarding passes, though upon presenting my AmEx Platinum card, she told me to go upstairs and check with the staff there.
China Eastern Lounge 35 Entrance at Shanghai Pudong Airport
The agent upstairs was able to admit me based on my AmEx Platinum card. I asked whether I could add my Virgin Atlantic frequent flyer number to my reservation, though she could only do it via phone call, and only for upcoming segments (i.e. she couldn’t retroactively process my flight from Madrid to Shanghai). She asked me to call the China Eastern office in order to process my mileage claim.
China Eastern Lounge 35 Shanghai Pudong Entrance
After walking past a hallway with a kids’ play area, I made it to what looked like another attendant desk, as well as the main part of the lounge.
China Eastern Lounge 35 Shanghai Pudong Entrance
China Eastern Lounge 35 PVG Seating and Atmosphere
The China Eastern Lounge 35 is one large rectangular room full of seating, with a few nooks, crannies, and partitioned off areas for more private seating. The main area featured these beige and brown-looking armchairs, as well as some booths to the side with round tables.
China Eastern Lounge 35 Shanghai Pudong Seating
Then on the further end of the lounge was more restaurant-style seating. This area filled up a bit more quickly, given that many in the lounge were looking to eat breakfast at this time.
China Eastern Lounge 35 Shanghai Pudong Dining Area
Then on the other end of the lounge were some armchairs facing each other over coffee tables, as well as the workstations. I wasn’t a fan of the lack of light by these workstations – perhaps a bulb had gone out? Either way, I would’ve really appreciated a desk lamp at each of these seats. This area was empty throughout my stay (despite the rest of the lounge filling up), and I could even take a call here at one point.
China Eastern Lounge 35 Shanghai Pudong Seating
Chinese-style power ports were abundant, and WiFi was usable, albeit not amazing. Obviously the lounge WiFi doesn’t have a VPN installed, so you won’t be able to use any Meta or Google-affiliated social media apps, such as Instagram or WhatsApp (apart from iMessage).
This isn’t a massive lounge with a huge variety of seating, though I thought it was good enough, particularly given that the airline has multiple lounges throughout the airport. The one thing I wished for was more tables – even though the lounge never felt over 50% capacity, I struggled to find a seat to eat at, unless I wanted to put my food on my lap. This was more of an issue given that the lounge had a noodle bar (which you need a proper table to eat).
China Eastern Lounge 35 PVG Food and Beverage
While I wouldn’t call the China Eastern lounge food extensive, it definitely was different to food that I’d expect to see over breakfast at a lounge in the West – rightly so. There was a little salad bar, which featured some fruit, as well as some basic vegetables.
China Eastern Lounge 35 Shanghai Pudong Fruit and Salad Bar
The hot options consisted of yams, potatoes, chicken sausage, bamboo shoots and lettuce, tea egg, waxy corn, and pork stir fry.
China Eastern Lounge 35 Shanghai Pudong Food Spread
Then there was a noodle bar, where you could get noodles and dim sum.
China Eastern Lounge 35 Shanghai Pudong Noodle Bar
The noodle on offer was the airline’s signature “MU Noodle”, which you could get either in soup, or mixed in with sauce. The noodles came without condiments, though there were recommendations of condiments that you could add in (including pickled vegetables, minced pork, and some marinated tofu).
China Eastern Lounge 35 Shanghai Pudong Food spread
I thought the MU noodles were delicious, and the noodles themselves had a nice bite as well.
China Eastern Lounge 35 Shanghai Pudong MU Noodle
Along side this, there was a fridge with some desserts, as well as some sandwiches.
China Eastern Lounge 35 Shanghai Pudong Desserts and Sandwiches
On the drinks front, there wasn’t anything particularly inspiring – there was a coffee machine with powdered creamer, as well as some juice.
China Eastern Lounge 35 Shanghai Pudong Coffee and Juice
Then there were separate sections of refrigerated and non-refrigerated drinks, including Coke, Sprite, tonic water, and Heineken and Chinese Snowflake beer.
China Eastern Lounge 35 Shanghai Pudong Soft Drinks and Beer
This isn’t a particularly high-effort food spread, and drinks were particularly rudimentary. However, everything tasted good, particularly the MU noodle.
China Eastern Lounge 35 PVG Shower Rooms
I believe that the China Eastern lounge 35 has one shower room for each gender. This was readily available when I requested one, and it was very well-appointed. The water pressure was very good, there was a toilet and sink in the room, and there was even an anti-slip mat for use. My only observation is that the toiletries were all exclusively Chinese-branded, so you wouldn’t be able to tell what was what unless you used a translation app.
China Eastern Lounge 35 Shanghai Pudong Bathroom
China Eastern Lounge 35 PVG Relaxation Rooms
In terms of other facilities, China Eastern Lounge 35 features five private relaxation rooms, which each feature a massage chair. These are located by the far end of the lounge, past the food spread area.
China Eastern Lounge 35 Shanghai Pudong Relaxation Rooms
China Eastern Lounge 35 PVG Kids’ Play Area
The lounge also features a kids’ area, though I didn’t see any kids playing here throughout the duration of my stay. In fact, the lounge mainly filled up with businessmen in suits, presumably getting ready for a Tuesday morning commute to work.
China Eastern Lounge 35 Shanghai Pudong Playroom Area
I also won’t dedicate a separate section to service, though everyone I interacted with at the lounge was friendly. I do speak Mandarin, though, so can’t say for what the language barrier is like if you would’ve spoken English.
Conclusion: China Eastern Lounge 35 PVG
Airline lounges within China are rarely worth raving about, and this lounge is no exception. However, for such a centrally located lounge in a busy hub airport, I was surprised by the fact that the lounge was a serene space, with a readily available shower and a good food spread. I wouldn’t mind spending some time here before my next China Eastern flight.
What’s your favourite China Eastern lounge at Shanghai Pudong Airport?
