How to get there? Start by figuring out how to get home.

Despite the global recession and disaster in Japan, China’s economy has so far managed to avoid contraction. Mostly because of this sustained demand, flight options between North America and East Asia are the best they have ever been.

Recent improvements have included:

1. •Delta introducing Atlanta-Shanghai and Detroit-Beijing nonstops
   

2. •Hainan Airlines opening Beijing-Toronto service
   

3. •The US - Japan “open skies” treaty, which paved the way for United and ANA-All Nippon to begin a joint venture and enhanced connecting opportunities
   

4. •United has restored the Beijing-Washington Dulles nonstop service
   

5. •American Airlines started Los Angeles-Shanghai nonstops
   

6. •China Eastern re-tuned their Shanghai hub to allow easier connections between inland cities and North American routes
   

7. •China Southern announced Guangzhou-Vancouver service to begin in June 2011, and upgraded their Los Angeles service to daily
   

8. •Cathay Pacific expanded Hong Kong-New York service to an incredible 4 round trips per day, and will begin nonstops to Chicago in the autumn
   

Your adoption trip will take you to several points inside China, but everyone completes paperwork in Guangzhou. We’ll examine your options from there for Summer 2011:

There are several paths you can take out of Guangzhou:

1. 1.Fly directly from Guangzhou’s Baiyun Airport to an airport in North America. This will pose no problems regarding your child’s Chinese passport and US or Canadian entry visa.
   

2. 2.Leave Baiyun and connect through another city in China (Beijing or Shanghai). This also is no problem with your child’s immigration status.
   

3. 3.Leave Baiyun and connect through South Korea - again not a problem with papers, as long as you stay inside the airport.
   

4. 4.Leave Baiyun and connect through Japan - again, you’ll have to stay inside the airport terminal.
   

5. 5.A new option is to connect through Taiwan, as relations between the mainland and the island become more productive. Again, you’ll need to stay inside the terminal when connecting.
   

6. 6.Take a ground or air link to nearby Hong Kong, where your child may spend several days as long as she has onward plane tickets already arranged. Flight options out of Hong Kong are more plentiful, and the city is a great place to transition back to Western culture.
   

Leaving directly from Guangzhou:

1. •Delta code-shares with fellow SkyTeam partner China Southern (Guangzhou’s hometown airline) on that carrier’s daily nonstop to Los Angeles. The flight leaves Guangzhou at 9 pm, and arrives L.A. at 6:50 pm, allowing for same-day connections to a number of Eastern, Midwest, and West Coast cities - although the East Coast and Midwest flights are “red-eye” overnight services. Using those overnight flights for early-morning transfers at Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis, Cincinnati, New York, or Atlanta, almost every city in the 48 states can be reached. Delta does offer adoption fares. This map shows the same-day possibilities through Los Angeles on Delta-coded flights (click for full-page view):
   

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4. •China Southern also begins Guangzhou-Vancouver nonstops in June, 3 days per week (also shown on the map above.) SkyTeam does not have a Canadian partner yet, so your onward flights from YVR would have to be arranged separately.
   

Connecting through Beijing, there are two strong sets of options:

1. •Hainan Airlines is China’s 4th-biggest carrier, and offers a morning flight from Guangzhou which connects to their Beijing-Seattle 4-days-per-week nonstop and new Beijing-Toronto 3/week nonstop. While Hainan does not offer adoption fares, they are often very competitive, and do have through-fares on Alaska, Continental, and American to many US destinations. Hainan’s inbound service from Seattle to Beijing does connect solidly with a number of “adoption cities” in China, so they represent a strong option, and have been building a loyal family-travel clientele. (Toronto’s flight arrives a bit later than Seattle’s, and connects to fewer cities on a same-evening plan.) This map shows the inbound / outbound service available:
   

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4. •Air China runs at least 3 daily flights from Guangzhou to Beijing that connect to various transpacific Star Alliance partners - United Airlines, merger partner Continental, Air Canada, and Air China’s own services. Eight different North American airports can be reached with a same-terminal connection this way, shown on the map below:
   

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7. •Delta runs a Beijing-Seattle nonstop and will begin Beijing-Detroit in June, but both flights leave too early in the morning to receive a connection on China Southern from Guangzhou.
   

Heading out through Shanghai:

1. •China Eastern acquired another Shanghai-based competitor and is in the process of building up connections at the “new” airport there, Pudong International. For now, China Eastern flies only to New York, Los Angeles, and Vancouver; however, as China Eastern completes the process of joining the SkyTeam alliance we could expect Delta’s nonstops to Detroit and Atlanta to be re-timed for better connections.
   

1. •Star Alliance carriers United/Continental and Air Canada offer many nonstops to North America out of Shanghai-Pudong; however, there are no Star Alliance flights from Guangzhou to Pudong.
   

Through South Korea’s big, modern international gateway at Seoul-Incheon, there are two alliance options:

1. •Korean Air offers three departures most days from Guangzhou to their hub at Seoul which connect to many US and Canadian cities. Korean Air offers adoption fares, and is a member of SkyTeam, so you can earn Delta SkyMiles and get through-ticketing on Delta flights to your final destination. Korean Air also serves the most Chinese cities of any foreign carrier, so they’re a solid option for your inbound trip. Plus, Delta’s new Seoul - Detroit service is perfectly timed to connect with the 9:15 departure from Guangzhou, and through Detroit, almost every city in the Midwest and East Coast can be reached by the end of the day. This map shows the same-day homeward possibilities on Korean Air-coded flights (click for full-page view):
   

1. •Asiana (Star Alliance) is the other Korean carrier offering connections through Seoul, but their midday departure from Guangzhou only allows for same-day connections to Seattle and Los Angeles:
   

Connecting through Tokyo was a popular choice when Northwest Airlines flew directly from Guangzhou, but since NWA pulled out of that route, it has been less convenient until recently:

1. •All Nippon Airways (ANA) has a 9:15 am nonstop to Tokyo which connects to Star Alliance carriers United/Continental and Air Canada, as well as other ANA flights to North America:
   

1. •Japan Airlines (oneworld alliance and joint-venture partner with American Airlines) has gone through bankruptcy and cut service significantly. They still run a flight from Guangzhou, but the only transpacific service it connects to goes to Honolulu.
   

2. •Delta had announced they would begin Guangzhou-Tokyo service in April 2011, but in the aftermath of the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear crisis, have indefinitely postponed starting the route. This service would be a definite boon to adoptive families, so we will be listening closely to what Delta is saying.
   

Flying through Taipei has only just become a possibility, as the PRC and island governments allow progressively more services across the Straits:

1. •China Airlines (to join SkyTeam later in 2011, and a current codeshare partner with Delta) offers double-daily nonstop service between Guangzhou and Taipei. These flights connect to CI’s West Coast stations (Vancouver, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.) (Map following in the Hong Kong section below.)
   

2. •EVA Air is not in an alliance, and offers a 3-times-per-week flight from Guangzhou to Taipei. This makes for uneven connection opportunities - just once per week to Toronto, twice per week to Vancouver, 3 per week to Seattle / San Francisco / Los Angeles.
   

Finally, Hong Kong is close enough to Guangzhou that you’ll want to consider using its options. There are a couple of flights between the two cities, but even easier are the many fast trains. There is even fast ferry service which leaves just downriver from Shamian Island. You can pick up Hong Kong visas at the border, and families like to visit places like  Disneyland and Victoria Peak there before flying home.

1. •Hong Kong’s hometown carrier Cathay Pacific is part of the oneworld alliance, and partner American codeshares many of their flights. From HKG, Cathay Pacific offers multiple-daily nonstops to several key North American hubs. Click on the map below for detail:
   

1. •United / Continental and Air Canada also offer nonstops to North America, and Star Alliance partner ANA has a morning flight to Tokyo which connects to even more destinations:
   

1. •Delta has morning nonstops to their hubs in Tokyo-Narita as well as Detroit. From Tokyo nearly all other Delta hubs can be reached in the same day:
   

1. •Finally, China Airlines has many flights from Hong Kong to Taipei, allowing for more connections to North America. China Airlines will earn you Delta SkyMiles points, as well. This map shows connections available from Hong Kong as well as Guangzhou:
   

Now you can think about how to get there.

If you’re thinking about spending a few days in Beijing, Shanghai, or Hong Kong on the way in - to be a tourist before connecting with your child, and to get used to the time and climate - you’re in luck. Delta and United / Continental all fly into each of these three cities. You can usually get a ticket into one city and out of another (a “circle fare”) for about the same price as a roundtrip from just one city alone.

Most US/Canadian carriers’ flights arrive in Beijing or Shanghai in late evening, so you would likely need an overnight stay in any case.

The Chinese carriers’ flights tend to arrive early enough to allow for same-day connections to inland cities (China Southern’s LAX - Guangzhou flight gets in at 6 am!) So with these airlines, you may have a choice to stop over in their hub cities before proceeding directly to your child’s town, or go straight there.

Once you’ve made your choice -

Sign up for your airline’s frequent flyer program!

The mileage you’ll bank on a China roundtrip may be well enough to earn you elite status for when you get home. 

1. •Delta, China Southern, and Korean Air (and soon, China Airlines and China Eastern) are all members of the SkyTeam alliance, so be sure to have a SkyMiles account if flying any of them.
   

1. •United / Continental is a member of the Star Alliance, along with ANA-All Nippon, Asiana, and Air China. These carriers would feed your Mileage Plus or OnePass account (or Dividend Miles if you fly USAirways frequently.) If you’re Canadian, be sure you’ve signed up for Aeroplan, as Air Canada is in the Star Alliance, too.
   

1. •Cathay Pacific and its sister carrier Dragonair, plus Japan Air Lines, are members of the oneworld alliance with American Airlines. Your AAdvantage account will work with these companies.
   

Invest in your in-flight kit --

A 777 looks big on the outside, but once inside, you’re stuck with 100 people in a section of the airplane about the size of your bedroom. The westbound flight is long, and you’ll usually have daylight all the way over. So you will be wanting the eyemask and noise-cancelling headphones, plus your electronic media device of choice. Pick up granola bars and healthy snacks for your carry-on bag.

Choose your seats wisely (if possible) --

It may well be the case that you’ll have to take what seats you can get, as Pacific flights have high load factors and you won’t have the luxury of booking well in advance. But if you do have choices, pull up Seatguru.com and select your airline and aircraft. They do a great job of showing you where your seats are relative to restrooms and exits, which seats don’t recline or have extra legroom, and other things you wouldn’t have thought about...