Still not thought of where to go for the May Day holiday? Why not fly down to Kunming in Yunnan (always a good idea) and then hop on the train that will take you over 1,000 kilometres to visit the mysterious, but beautiful, Laotian capital of Vientiane?
The service, which began on 13 April, runs on a line between the two cities that opened in December, 2021. Until now, however, trains along the route ran almost entirely as freight only, with COVID having all but completely shut down international travel.
By 9 April of this year, that freight service had carried some 18.4 million tonnes of freight between China and Laos.
The two “highish-speed trains” for the 1,024 kilometre route, built by CRRC Dalian, have a maximum speed of 160 kilometres per hour, as Railway Gazette reports.
The pair is branded “Lancang”, in part a reference to the upper section of the Mekong River that lies in China, symbolising the positive aspects of the China-Laos relationship.
In addition, one of the trains is painted in a red, white and blue colour scheme, in reference to the Laotian flag.
Each with a capacity for 720 passengers, the train departing Kunming makes stops at Pu’er, Xishuangbanna, Mohan, Moding, Luang Prabang and Wanrong.
Speaking with Xinhua when the line first opened, Lachan Suvanthung, a hotel receptionist in tourist-hotspot, Vang Vieng, said, “When it operates normally and the COVID-19 situation in our country improves significantly, I believe the railway will make local people’s life easier and the tourism sector will also see strong growth in the future”.
The D887 train departs Kunming South each day at 08:08, for an arrival in Vientiane at 17:38, some 10 and a half hours later (Laos is 1 hour behind China). Second-class tickets cost ¥542, while first class will set you back ¥864.
