Contrary to my previous business class flight with China Airlines, on this flight the crew encouraged me to take as much video and pictures as I want and never mentioned anything about a copyright violation that the previous crew warned me about. The crew was absolutely phenomenal. Several crew members took time to speak with me during the flight. In particular, the purser encouraged me to give them tips for improvement. She told me that an airline must always be a step ahead of its competitors even if they are already ahead. Although everyone loves China Airlines cabins and service improvements since the image overhaul, she was very wary of the praise because of the significant concentration of highly rated airlines like Cathay, Singapore, the Japanese and Korean airlines, and EVA in Asia. She also spoke about the mainland airlines as posing significant pressure and told me not to underestimate their power and market share. All they have to do is make similar improvements and can easily squeeze out her home airlines. It is clear that she takes pride in her work with passengers as well as the accomplishments by her company and I really admire that. Another crew member was a more grandpa type figure. He appeared much older than the rest of the crew. When he saw me taking videos of the snack boxes he asked me if I would like to take some with me to eat after my flight. He then grabbed me by the arm and handed me almost an entire box worth of snacks. We then went through each snack box and he literally dumped 4-5 of the little cookies and cakes from each box in my arms. He then saw how much I was holding and handed me a small paper bag to store all the snacks he gave me. It was pretty funny. He was really like a grandpa and it was very endearing how generous and friendly he was throughout the flight.\r
While China Airlines has the most beautiful business cabin, previously there were some service inconsistencies that made it less stellar than its competitor EVA. However it seems like some of those issues have been worked out. The wine list has been updated. The amenity kit has been upgraded and the plastic bowls have been replaced with glassware. I was told that these service improvements was timed with the introduction of the A350. \r
Before my flight I checked the seat map online and found the entire aft business cabin to be empty. I quickly selected a seat in the aft cabin hoping the airline wont move me when I check in. Luckily for me, China Airlines kept my seat and I had an entire business cabin to myself. The only issue is that the aft cabin is located behind the economy boarding door, so it means the all of the economy and premium economy passengers will stream pass you as you sit there in your seat exchanging awkward looks with them. However in return, I had a whole section of a 777 to myself for 15+ hours with a view of the engines. Overall I would not hesitate to fly with China Airlines again thanks to this unforgettable crew.