Winter tourism booms along China-Laos Railway

Since 2023, the regions along the China-Laos Railway have witnessed a surge in tourism, with both domestic and international tourists flocking to experience cross-border travel.

From May 23 to 26, 2023, 100 primary school students from Laos boarded the China-Laos Railway from Vientiane to Kunming. They then transferred to a high-speed train to reach Beijing, turning the dream of traveling by train to Beijing into a reality.

On November 13, 2023, the 15-day-long Beijing-Laos cross-border tourist train departed from Beijing Fengtai railway station. Tourists had the firsthand experience of the allure of the China-Laos Railway, a flagship project exemplifying the high-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Since its opening, the China-Laos Railway has integrated tourism with infrastructure construction and diversified tourism products. Tourist trains connecting snow mountains and tropical rainforests have gained favor among travelers.

"The China-Laos Railway has substantially enhanced the outbound tourism development in both China and Laos," said a representative from the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture Culture and Tourism Bureau. He added that from January to September 2023, Xishuangbanna received over 54 million visitors, achieving a total tourism revenue of 73.175 billion yuan.

"Traveling Laos by train has become a hit. Every month, I bring tourist groups to Laos for a week," said Du Tingting, manager of Southeast Asian tourism at Kunming Railway Bureau International Tourism Service Co., Ltd.

"Laos has become a popular destination for domestic tourists from cities like Kunming, Beijing, and Chengdu," Du added. According to reports, the operation of international passenger trains has greatly facilitated the effective circulation of passenger flow, logistics, and information, resulting in a 20% increase in property prices and transport costs in Vientiane,

Since the launch of international passenger trains on the China-Laos Railway, the travel time between Kunming and Vientiane has been reduced to just 9 hours and 26 minutes, allowing passengers to reach their destination on the same day. The customs clearance time for passengers has also been shortened to approximately one hour.

Since 2023, the railway departments of China and Laos have flexibly changed train operating plans to fulfill the daily travel demands of passengers from both nations.

An average of 51 trains are operated daily in the Chinese section, with the highest single-day record reaching 74 trains and a top daily passenger count of 83,000. The number of passenger trains running daily has grown from 2 to 10, with a maximum daily passenger count of 10,197.

As of December 5, 2023, the Mohan Port had examined 474 international passenger trains, with over 100,000 passengers entering or leaving from 75 nations and regions across six continents. Foreign passengers comprised 14.9% of the total, with Lao, Thailand, and Singaporeans leading the way.

Source: Yunnan.cn; trans-editing by Guo Yao