To begin the Travelling with Allergies tour of China and Hong Kong, we set off from Dusseldorf to Hong Kong with Air China. This flight has a stop over in Beijing, before changing planes for Hong Kong.

In terms of allergy, I was very impressed with the options I had for the Dusseldorf to Beijing section of the journey. We were served both a dinner for evening and a breakfast in the morning. One this particular flight the dinner options were either chicken or beef with rice (although I believe a vegetarian meal could be reserved online when booking the flight. The best thing about the meal was that the ingredients of the hot meal were shown on top of the package in English, allowing me to make an informed choice with regards to my allergies. It must be said that the package did say that the meal may "may contain traces of all allergens". The hot meal was also accompanied with a cherry yoghurt, bread and butter and also some fruit.

The breakfast meal was similarly presented with ingredients again helping to make informed allergy choices. The options for breakfast were either an egg omelette with sausage and broccoli or beef noodles with prawns, chillies and peppers. Again, similar to the dinner, the breakfast package contained the allergy advice at the bottom that "this may contain traces of all allergens". During the flight there were several opportunities to receive a range of drinks; water, juice, beer, wine and hot drinks.

On arriving at Beijing Airport, although I did not stop for a meal, there were many available eating options, from Chinese cuisine to Western food chains including Pizza Hut, which can sometimes provide a familiar haven for those with allergies.

The flight from China to Hong Kong provided less allergy assurance however than the previous flight. During this flight we was provided with either chicken or beef with rice, although this hot meal did not come with any ingredients or allergy advice. The meal was also accompanied with fruit, a side dish of what looked like potatoes and vegetables, and also a bread product. The ingredients and allergy information for the bread product were only available in Chinese however, and it turned out that it had a chocolate center, so I had to abandon eating this.

All being said, overall I felt comfortable with my nut allergy and in the food I was provided.