Welcome to Xi's
Zero Covid policy. From Jilin and Chanchun in the northeast to Shenzhen in the southeast to Xining in west-central China, large districts and whole cities with millions of people are being shut down when cases are found. While the shut-downs seem to be less draconian than those two years ago, many businesses are closed, no one may leave or enter a shut down city for two weeks, and every resident (or visitor) must be tested for Covid every two days. If a new case is found, that two-week time period is reset.
Passengers in a direct flight could bring in Covid, obviously, but cutting out in between stops limits the number of places those passengers might be exposed to Covid. A stopover in SoKo, Japan, Taipei (actually Taoyuan), etc. would be one more place an incoming passenger might accidentally be exposed.
As for the high cost of airline tickets, does this DUmmie think jet fuel costs would remain low while gasoline prices more than doubled over the past 16 months?
Brandon did that! 
