China Eastern Airlines began to launch flights connecting the Yunnan's Kunming city and Shandong's Qingdao city with San Francisco in the United States on Thursday.

An Airbus A330-200 will fly the route three times a week.

It will depart from Kunming on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and arrive at San Francisco International Airport via Qingdao, a port city in Shandong Province.

The return flight is scheduled on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and will arrive in Kunming the next day.