Bekol, never realized that PEK had grown so fast in the last year. Thanks for that, solid figures are always a good...luckily i didnt take that "bet"!!
As for Sizematters...what are you on about? No one is saying that. The fact is, English is the official language of aviation. Even ICAO isnt going to cater to the
minority with this.
If you look at Bekol's handy
Airports Council Chart you will see that 9 of the top 10 busiest airports in the world are in North America, and 23 out of the top 30. Only one Asian airport PEK #28, made it in the top 30.
So as you can see, the majority users of the ATC system speak good ole English, therefore thats what is used. If you cant understand something, you are well in your right to ask them to say again until you understand it. But dont expect them to cater to you every time. The Chinese need to learn English if they want to operate in an environment where only English is spoken...period.