Also I was told that you could allocate a couple of days from your annual leave with your 7 days, "roster permitting". Does that ever happen?
Any time I see the words "roster permitting" or other similair cop-out clauses like "when practical" or "if possible" in an EBA or a contract it usually means in the western world it probably won't happen. However, as we are talking about a Chinese airline here, I'd say it's 100% certain that it won't happen.