We settled into coach on an Air China non-stop flight to Frankfurt, and I opened a Chinese packet of "Outbound Group Advice, " which we' d been urged to read carefully.

Such was the fate of southern China's Shenzhen Airlines, which was taken over earlier this year by Air China.

An Air China plane comes in to land over the roof of the railway station at Beijing's international airport, on April 21, 2011. (Reuters/David Gray)

Wan Tong Development Building (looking it up on map)(Air China Plaza ) has sold its entire building to Air China International, setting a record in Beijing' s building individual large-amount trade.

But while the country's state-owned air giants - Air China, China Southern and China Eastern - are soaring, their private rivals have been left bruised, broken or bankrupt.