China, Vietnam cross-border travel surges with more Vietnamese tourists

Cross-border tourism between China and Vietnam has surged this year, with a railway station on the China–Vietnam border reporting a sharp rise in Vietnamese visitors, according to local media.

As of Tuesday, Hekou North Station in Yunnan's Hekou county, which borders Vietnam, had handled 1,062 groups of Vietnamese travelers, totaling 37,200 person-times, representing a year-on-year increase of nearly 74 percent, according to Yunnan.cn, a local news portal.

"Chinese high-speed trains are very fast, with the train staff providing attentive and professional service," said Pham Thu Hien, a Vietnamese traveler.

To meet the demand during Vietnam's National Day holiday from Aug 30 to Sept 2, China Railway Kunming Group introduced a temporary direct service from Hekou North to Dali in western Yunnan, a journey of 725 kilometers. The C9526 train, designed for group travel, carried 706 passengers on its first day, including 553 Vietnamese travelers, reaching an occupancy rate of 102.24 percent.

Hekou North Station, located next to Hekou port, one of the main entry points for Vietnamese tourists, has become a hub for travel. Nowadays, more Vietnamese tourists are embracing Chinese lifestyle trends in Hekou county, from riding shared bikes and using mobile payments to drinking milk tea and wearing Hanfu, Xinhua reported.

With easier border crossings and better transport links, tourists are now venturing beyond short trips to Hekou to more destinations such as Dali and Lijiang in Yunnan.

"I've seen many Vietnamese travelling to China," said Phan Ngoc Tien from Vietnam. "Before, most took one- or two-day trips to Hekou, but now they're going further to places like Dali and Lijiang."