United Adds 2nd Daily Nonstop Service between S.F. and Hong Kong

Despite what many think, the ancient world was beyond primitive. It was also wonderful.

They had seven wonders to prove it.

The classic seven wonders were:

Great Pyramid of Giza, El Giza, Egypt the only one that still exists.
Colossus of Rhodes, in Rhodes, on the Greek island of the same name.
Hanging Gardens of Babylon, in Babylon, near present-day Hillah, Babil province, in Iraq.
Lighthouse of Alexandria, in Alexandria, Egypt.
Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, in Halicarnassus, Achaemenid Empire, modern day Turkey.
Statue of Zeus at Olympia, in Olympia, Greece.
Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, in Ephesus (near the modern town of Selçuk in present-day Turkey).

It does sound wonderful to us.

Today, incredible wonders of the world abound. More are being created every day. The question is, as magnificent as they are, and we all have our list, will they stand the test of time?

With the emergence of global markets, cities are now becoming wonders of the world. Who saw majestic high-end Dubai coming when it was just a fishing village decades ago?

Now they proudly display skyscrapers that kiss the sky and manmade land masses that can be seen from space.

Another metropolis is emerging that use to be an agricultural underdeveloped region and building the longest sea crossing bridge in the world, among other spectacular things is swiftly placing it on the world map.

The Pearl River Delta Metropolitan Region (PRD) is the low-lying area surrounding the Pearl River estuary, where the Pearl River flows into the South China Sea.

It is one of the most densely urbanized regions in the world, and is often considered as a megacity.

Very important.

It is now the wealthiest region in South China and one of the wealthiest in the whole China along with Yangtze River Delta in East China and Jingjinji in North China. The region's economy is referred to as Pearl River Delta Economic Zone, it is also part of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area.

The nine largest cities of the PRD had a combined population of 57.15 million at the end of 2013, comprising 53.69% of the provincial population.

Now this can make it a wonder of the world on anyone’s list. According to the World Bank Group, the PRD has become the largest urban area in the world in both size and population.

Did you know that?

And look where it all started.

According to visualcapitalist.com, “In the late 1970s, the fertile river delta to the north of Hong Kong’s territory was primarily agricultural land. Shenzhen was an unassuming town of 30,000 people – with only one functioning taxi.”

From very humble beginnings to a wonder of the world and they are clearly not finished yet. Where they are headed could go on for miles, like the regions world’s longest sea crossing bridge.

On October 23, 2018 the global news and information source bbc.com educates, “Chinese President Xi Jinping has officially opened the world's longest sea crossing bridge, nine years after construction first began.

Including its access roads, the bridge spans 55km (34 miles) and connects Hong Kong to Macau and the mainland Chinese city of Zhuhai.

The bridge cost about $20bn (£15.3bn) and should have opened in 2016.

Construction has been dogged by safety issues - at least 18 workers have died on the project, officials say.”

What an extremely sad but amazing story. Also designed to withstand earthquakes and typhoons, it was built using 400,000 tons of steel, enough to build 60 Eiffel Towers.

We haven’t even began to scratch the surface of this magnificent region filled with many wonders.

The global travelers at Lonely Planet can guide us a little further. “The region’s population has swelled (around 130 million now call the Pearl River Delta home), so has Guangzhou’s profile. Interestingly, Guangzhou is also one of the only cities in China where Mandarin and Cantonese are spoken almost interchangeably.”

So far do you like what you see? Then at least once, soon, you should probably visit.

There is more great news. United Airlines can get you there.

Please enjoy.

United Airlines Adds Second Daily Nonstop Service between San Francisco and Hong Kong

United offers customers another convenient flight option with twice-daily, Boeing 777-200ER service between San Francisco and Hong Kong

SAN FRANCISCO, June 27, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- United Airlines today announced it is offering customers a second daily nonstop flight between San Francisco and Hong Kong. Beginning October 26, United will operate two daily nonstop flights between San Francisco and Hong Kong giving customers the choice of midday or late-night departures from both airports. Tickets are now available for purchase.

"The addition of a second daily nonstop flight between San Francisco and Hong Kong offers customers more flexibility and convenience when planning travel to one of the world's largest business markets," said Patrick Quayle, United's vice president of International Network. "We look forward to offering customers a schedule that fits their travel needs with convenient times and greater connectivity to United's extensive and growing network."

United's schedule between San Francisco and Hong Kong offers business and leisure customers more flexibility when planning travel. United's new evening departure from San Francisco gives customers a morning arrival in Hong Kong to start their day and the new evening departure from Hong Kong will arrive into San Francisco in the evening. These two flights combined will offer customers more options to connect to 80 destinations beyond San Francisco.

Hong Kong (HKG) – San Francisco (SFO) Schedule (Effective Oct. 26)

Flight	Frequency	Dep.	Time	Time	Aircraft
UA 869	Daily	SFO - HKG	1:15 p.m.	8:20 p.m. ^{+1 day}	B777-200ER
UA 877 (New)	Mon/Wed/Sat. Tue/Thu/Fri/Sun	SFO - HKG	11:05 p.m. 10:50 p.m.	6:10 a.m.^{+2 days} 5:55 a.m. ^{+2 days}	B777-200ER
UA 862	Daily	HKG - SFO	12:20 p.m.	8:40 a.m.	B777-200ER
UA 878 (New)	Daily	HKG - SFO	10:30 p.m.	6:50 p.m.	B777-200ER

Expanding San Francisco's International Network in 2019

This year, United started nonstop seasonal service from San Francisco to Amsterdam; and extended Auckland, New Zealand and Tahiti, French Polynesia services to year-round. The airline also began a second daily flight to Seoul, South Korea and twice-daily service to Toronto, Canada. In October, United will begin seasonal nonstop service to Melbourne, Australia and new seasonal service to New Delhi in December.

With these new routes, the airline will serve 29 international destinations from San Francisco, including eight cities in Europe, India and the Middle East; seven in North America; and 14 in Asia and Oceania. United, the largest airline at San Francisco International Airport, operates more than 300 daily flights. The network expansion cements United's preeminent position in San Francisco, where the carrier offers more nonstop flights than any U.S. airline from San Francisco to the Asia-Pacific region and Europe. Tickets are now available for purchase.

United has been a Bay Area company for 90 years and employs 14,000 people in the Bay Area, including 2,500 at its maintenance base, which recently celebrated its 70th anniversary of operation. United continues to invest in the airport and last year opened the 28,000-square-foot United Polaris lounge near Gate G92 in International Terminal G.

Every customer. Every flight. Every day.

In 2019, United is focusing more than ever on its commitment to its customers, looking at every aspect of its business to ensure that the carrier keeps customers' best interests at the heart of its service. In addition to today's announcement, United recently announced that luxury skincare line Sunday Riley will make products exclusively for United customers to experience in amenity kits, released a re-imagined version of the most downloaded app in the airline industry, introduced ConnectionSaver, a new tool dedicated to improving the experience for customers connecting from one United flight to the next and made DIRECTV free for every passenger on 211 aircraft, offering more than 100 channels on seat back monitors on more than 30,000 seats.

About United

United's shared purpose is "Connecting People. Uniting the World." We are more focused than ever on our commitment to customers through a series of innovations and improvements designed to help build a great experience: Every customer. Every flight. Every day. Together, United Airlines and United Express operate approximately 4,900 flights a day to 355 airports across five continents. In 2018, United and United Express operated more than 1.7 million flights carrying more than 158 million customers. United is proud to have the world's most comprehensive route network, including U.S. mainland hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Newark, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. United operates 779 mainline aircraft and the airline's United Express carriers operate 569 regional aircraft. United is a founding member of Star Alliance, which provides service to 193 countries via 28 member airlines. For more information, visit united.com, follow @United on Twitter and Instagram or connect on Facebook. The common stock of United's parent, United Continental Holdings, Inc., is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol "UAL".

SOURCE United Airlines