Travel info
Sea tourism route open to Vietnam
A sea route for tourism between southern China and Vietnam has reopened after being closed for two years. The route, connecting China's Beihai to Vietnam's Ha Long Bay, is the only tourist route by sea connecting the two countries. Over 200 tourists returned to a port in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Tuesday night after a five-day journey.
The past two years have been spent building docks for passenger liners. Initially, one liner will sail every four days, with more ships expected in the future. New routes to other southeast Asian countries, such as Singapore and Malaysia, are also expected.
The Beihai-Ha Long Bay sea tourism route first opened on April 30, 1998. It was China's first transnational sea tourism line, and has serving more than 500,000 tourists.
Flights link Taiwan, Inner Mongolia
Taiwan-based airline EVA Air launched a direct route between Taipei and the mainland city of Hohhot on Monday. It is the first route linking north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Taiwan and is expected to boost tourism on both sides of the strait. The flight will be offered three times a week, on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
A second direct flight linking Inner Mongolia's Hailar and Taipei will be launched on Tuesday. The flight time is expected to be 4 hours and 10 minutes.
Juneyao uses A321 to fly to Chengdu
Juneyao Airlines has taken delivery of its first Airbus 321 aircraft, the biggest passenger plane of the A320-series, and is flying the new jet between Shanghai and Chengdu. The aircraft has a configuration of 190 seats including 12 first-class seats. The first A321 is flying between Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport and Chengdu. It will fly more routes between the city and Sanya in Hainan Island, mainly for business travelers.
Delta launches nonstop to Seattle
Delta Air Lines launched its first nonstop China flight from Shanghai to Seattle on Wednesday. The new route uses a Boeing 767-300ER jet with 36 flat-bed seats, 29 upgraded economy seats and 143 economy seats. Flights will depart from Shanghai Pudong International Airport at 12:20pm and arrive in Seattle at 8:35am the same day. The returning flight will take off at 2:45pm and land in Pudong at 6:20pm the next day. It will be Delta's fourth nonstop service between the US and China.
China second in NZ tourism market
The rise of China as New Zealand's second largest tourism market is changing New Zealand's tourism industry, government officials said in a published report on Thursday. China overtook Britain last year to come in second to Australia.
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