China has never seemed so close.

American Airlines will begin offering a daily nonstop flight between Chicago and Shanghai in April. United Airlines, which provides the most nonstop flights between the United States and China, has added three more flights to Hong Kong, for a total of 10 a week. It launched nonstop service from Chicago to Beijing in June. That same month Continental Airlines began flying between Newark and Beijing, and the airline has applied to the U.S. Department of Transportation for approval to operate nonstop flights to Shanghai next year.

Meanwhile, Delta Air Lines is lobbying for the right to make daily nonstop flights between Atlanta and Beijing before the 2008 Olympics. The new routes have significantly reduced travel time for fliers from the East Coast who previously flew first to Chicago or San Francisco in order to catch a nonstop United flight to Beijing or Shanghai. On that route, "you're looking at three additional hours," of travel time, said Thomas J. Carlsen, president of Travel Gems Inc. in New York, a Carlson Wagonlit Travel agency. Demand is high among business travelers for the new nonstop routes out of New York and Newark, Mr. Carlsen said.