China launches direct flight connecting nation’s most northerly, eastern cities

China's first homegrown jet, the ARJ 21, arrives at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, Sichuan Province, on Sunday, November 29. Manufactured by COMAC, the newly unveiled regional passenger plane is the first to join the Chengdu Airlines fleet. (Photo: Tu Lei/GT)

The first direct flight connecting Mohe and Fuyuan, China's most northern and most eastern cities, respectively, in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, was launched on Thursday, further boosting local tourism and economic potential.

The flight will be operated by Chengdu Airlines, using an ARJ21 aircraft, departing from Harbin each Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, and making a round trip back to Harbin, according to local media reports.

Mohe has the highest latitude among Chinese cities and Fuyuan is China's first city that sees the morning sunlight. The two cities are about 1,600 kilometers apart, and to drive would take nearly 20 hours. Since there is no direct train, railway travel requires a transfer in Harbin, with the train journey taking over 36 hours.

The new flight shortens the travel time between Mohe and Fuyuan to about two hours, which will play a vital role in boosting the regional tourism industry as well as improving the local transport network, said the report.

In the first half of 2024, the number of China's domestic tourists hit 2.725 billion, up by 14.3 percent year-on-year, with tourism expenditure reaching 2.73 trillion yuan ($381.64 billion), up 19 percent year-on-year, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism along with the Ministry of Transport and seven other government departments recently co-released a guideline aimed at improving services in the tourism sector, said the Ministry of Transport on Monday.

The guideline prioritizes enhancing the construction of tourism transportation infrastructure, including building highways and airlines connecting scenic sites.