Talking Travel: Even More New Air Routes

Hope you had a nice three-day holiday. Did you go anywhere you enjoyed and would recommend to other readers? If so, please tell us in the Comments section below.

For a city whose tourist arrival numbers dropped significantly in 2013, there certainly seem to be a lot of new air routes connecting Beijing to other parts of the globe. Newest among them is the rumored Beijing to Boston non-stop route, which will become a reality on June 20, 2014. Hainan Airlines will be doing the flying on this one, although no American airline has picked up the route going the other way. No details yet on how many flights per week, but considering it will connect the city with China's best universities to the US's college capital, it stands to be one of the brainiest air connections in the world. It's the first non-stop between Boston and anywhere in China.

Boston isn't the only US city getting one or more Beijing air routes. Air China said it will start flying Beijing to Washington, DC's Dulles International Airport starting in early June, on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. We're not sure why this is a big deal; United Airlines already flies from Dulles to Beijing daily, and reverse. Both are members of the Star Alliance frequent flyer network, so, yeah.

Farther afield, Sri Lankan Airlines is beginning non-stop flights to Beijing and Shanghai this week from the island nation's capital of Colombo. Not only is Sri Lanka increasingly interesting for tourists from China, but it also serves as a jumping-off point for the Maldives, which has also been super-popular with same for a few years now. Flights go to Sri Lanka on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, and return Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. What is it about air routes in and out of Beijing that they run four days per week?

On the domestic side, Tibet Airlines, which we didn't know existed, is adding a new Beijing to Lhasa route via Yinchuan in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. The announcement didn't mention the flight's frequency, but forget it: as a foreigner, you ain't gettin' on that flight without a special travel permit.

In case you missed it in March, Kempinski Hotels is holding another career day April 12, After seeking to hire 700 people for their enormous Yanqi Lake Kempinski Hotel Beijing complex, due to open in May, they're still looking to fill almost 300 positions. If you don't love your current job, just maybe one of those 300 positions will appeal.

During the holiday, writer Peter Matthiessen died. A novelist, some of his best work was non-fiction travel writing, such as The Snow Leopard. Here is an interview with Matthiessen in The Paris Review, which he co-founded, from 1999.

Until next week, one road flat safe.

Photo: USA Today