On October 15, the “Discover the Most Beautiful Railways: Exploring a Century of Yunnan’s Railway Heritage” press tour visited Hekou North Railway Station, where the steady flow of Vietnamese passengers immediately caught the group’s attention.

With a series of favorable policies boosting China-Vietnam cross-border tourism, the tourism market at Hekou Port is thriving. Large numbers of Vietnamese visitors enter China through Hekou Port before taking trains to popular destinations such as Kunming, Dali and Lijiang. Colorful flags carried by travel agencies, fluttering on the platforms and in the waiting halls, have become a distinctive sight at Hekou North Railway Station.

Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture is located in southern Yunnan Province, bordering Wenshan to the east, Yuxi to the west and Vietnam to the south. With high-speed trains running directly to the border, it offers one of the most convenient routes into China for international visitors.

"From the Jiaozi Snow Mountain tours at the start of the year to the Kunming-Dali-Lijiang-Shangri-La tours now, we serve two to three Vietnamese groups every day," said Tian Yuyang, a passenger service clerk at Hekou North Station. Every day at 1:30 p.m., Train C560, which originates at Hekou North, greets Vietnamese cross-border tour groups of various sizes. Inside the compact waiting room, Mandarin, local dialects and Vietnamese fill the air, bustling with the warmth of everyday life.

To keep pace with this new trend, the Kaiyuan Train Operation Depot of China Railway Kunming Group has seized the opportunity to grow passenger traffic and revenue. It has set up a coordination mechanism with local customs, border inspection authorities and travel agencies. Based on each group's size and arrival time, the depot also sets aside time for meals and connects groups with the station's specialty restaurants to ensure smooth service throughout.

"We Vietnamese groups love Dali, Lijiang and Shangri-La — the scenery there is stunning. Vietnamese people really enjoy visiting these places, enjoy the views and learn about Chinese culture, history and customs. The staff at Honghe Station are wonderful too — they make us feel welcome and the procedures are very convenient," said Hoang Van Tien, a Vietnamese tour guide who has become a regular at Honghe Station. Every few days, he brings a group through the station, either heading north to transfer onto high-speed trains for Dali and Lijiang, or south to escort returning travelers safely home to Vietnam.

As many group members are elderly and all of whom travel with passports, Honghe Station has introduced tailored services including organizing queues in advance, additional manual ticket-check gates and dedicated staff to guide passengers to their trains, making their Chinese high-speed rail journey easier and more hassle-free.

To further improve services for Vietnamese travelers, the Kaiyuan Depot plans to put up bilingual guidance signs in restrooms, at water dispensers and in designated signage areas on the platforms at both Hekou North and Honghe stations, refining service quality down to the smallest detail.

From the start of this year through October 15, the Kaiyuan Train Operation Depot of China Railway Kunming Group has served a total of 96,000 passenger trips by Vietnamese tour groups. Since 2023, Vietnamese cross-border tourism has posted average annual growth of over 50 percent. Cross-border tour groups accompanied by colorful fluttering flags have emerged as a major new driving force in the railway transport market of southeast Yunnan. 

(Editors: Flynn, Doe)