We used this route in our recent trip, starting at Newcastle. When we first booked, both stop overs in china were only about 2 to 3 hours, but a month before out trip we were told the flight from Manila was changed to an earlier time and now we would have the 9 hour wait.
on the way out we found that the airport was very basic, after leaving the aircraft we had to queue at an immagration desk, even though we were only transfer. Once at our depature gate there was only a couple of small shops and places to get a drink or food. It was also expensive as a coffee and bottle of water was about £8.
Knowing that we had a longer wait on the return journey and we had our kids, aged 9 and 3, we were not looking forward to the long wait.
After arriving at China again on the return leg, before we queued at the immagration desk I went to the China Southern information desk as i had a question about making sure we had kids meals booked on the flight. When at that desk i asked the lady if there was anywhere in the airport we could go as we had a long wait, to which the answer was no. My next question was if it was possible to leave the airport, again the answer was no.
While waiting in the queue for immagration, the lady i asked was now comming towards me with some paperwork, she then said if the immagration officer would allow us to enter, then they would arrange a hotel room for us.
Luckily we were allowed and we were taken, free of charge, to a local hotel where we were able to rest, get a meal and relax before we had to go back to the airport.
Not sure if we were given this as we had the kids but, as they say, if you dont ask you dont get.
