NEW CHINA-THAILAND FLIGHT

A new air route was launched in July to link Mount Wutai, one of China's four sacred Buddhist mountains, and the Thai capital of Bangkok.

Charter flight service will be operated by China Eastern Airlines three times a week on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday on an Airbus A320 aircraft.

Added to UNESCO's World Heritage List in 2009, Mount Wutai is home to around 50 Buddhist temples built between the 1st Century and early 20th Century. The site is in northern China's Shanxi Province, 230 kilometers from the provincial capital of Taiyuan.

The air route, the first international link to the airport at Mount Wutai, will help attract more overseas tourists to the famous Buddhist mountain, said an official with the airport.

Thailand is a predominantly Buddhist country, with more than 90 percent of its population following the Theravada school of Buddhism.