Aman at Summer Palace Grabs Gold: New Flight to Melbourne; So Long to South African Airways

Conde Nast Traveler's Gold List for 2015 is out, and a Beijing hotel is on it: Aman at Summer Palace. The magazine notes its "Chinese landscape paintings and brightly lacquered details give the resort an authentic old China feel. Guest rooms have sliding latticework doors that reveal soaring wood-beamed ceilings, floors of polished Jin clay tiles, and closets made from Chinese wedding chests." Oh, and look at that: Aman at Summer Palace is the first place we mentioned in our list of Beijing's Best Staycations.

G'day and all that. Air China is launching the first non-stop service between Beijing and Melbourne in Australia. The service begins June 1, and flies four times per week. expanding to daily in January 2016. Currently passengers to Melbourne must change planes in Sydney or elsewhere.

An increasingly rare cancellation of an air route has occurred for South African Airways, which will end its three-year-old non-stop service to Beijing from Johannesburg. The airline estimates it loss SAR 1 billion (about RMB 543 million) on the route. So much for all that BRICS BS.

On Thursday I'll have more notes about visiting Bangkok. Until then, one road flat safe.

Photo: Aman Resorts