A 31-year-old Lao doctoral candidate at Yunnan University in Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province, known by his Chinese name Wen Pengyu was on board the D887 train, the first international passenger train from Kunming to the Lao capital Vientiane, on April 13.

Wen told news portal Yunnan.cn that in anticipation of the opportunities to be brought by the international passenger train, he and a friend had registered an international travel agency in Kunming in March. "We want to bring Chinese tourists to Laos and Lao tourists to China to promote people-to-people exchanges between the two countries," he said.

Li Jin and Li Chensi, a couple from Chengdu, Sichuan Province, were also on the first train to Vientiane. The trip is of special significance for the couple as the husband Li Jin, an engineer from China Railway Construction Group Co. Ltd., had taken part in the construction of the stations along the railway, including those in Luang Prabang and Vang Vieng. The couple's wedding, originally scheduled for 2020, had been postponed multiple times because of the construction. "We have decided to spend our honeymoon in Laos and I want to take my wife to see the stations I participated in building," Li Jin told Yunnan.cn.

The China-Laos Railway is a flagship project under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a blueprint proposed by China in 2013 to boost connectivity along the ancient trade routes of the Silk Road and the Maritime Silk Road. It is the first transnational railway project that is mainly invested in, constructed and operated by China and networked into China's domestic rail system since the launch of the BRI.

Since the railway began operation in December 2021, passenger train services have been offered along the section between Kunming and the Chinese border town of Mohan, as well as the section between Vientiane and Boten, the border town on the Lao side.

As of April 9, 13.93 million passenger trips had been handled in China and Laos and 18.38 million tons of cargo transported on the railway.

The train travels at a speed of up to 160 km per hour through mountains and valleys. There are eight stations along the over 1,000-km route and the journey takes 10 and a half hours, including the time spent passing through customs.

Starting from April 13, one passenger train will operate daily from Kunming to Vientiane and vice versa.

A railway of friendship 

From 1:49 p.m. to 1:57 p.m. Beijing Time on April 13, the D887 train from Kunming to Vientiane and the D888 train heading in the opposite direction met at Mohan. This was the first opportunity for Zhao Yingjing, the Chinese chief conductress of the D887 train and Tong Lier, the Lao chief conductress of the D888 train to meet. Zhao gave a train emergency manual to Tong and Tong gave Zhao a bunch of frangipani, the national flower of Laos.

To prepare for the opening of the passenger train, Zhao and her colleagues had received training in the Lao language, culture and dance in March. She told Xinhua News Agency that she wanted to be a bridge for China-Laos friendship and make passengers feel comfortable.

Zhao's colleague Dai Rui had been sent by the China Railway Kunming Group Co. Ltd. to Laos in 2021 to train Lao train attendants and Tong was one of Dai's trainees.

"I often heard Dai talk about the sceneries and delicacies of Kunming and now I can go to Kunming to experience them myself," Tong told Xinhua.

To help Laos train more railway professionals, China is helping to build a railway vocational school in Vientiane. The project is being run by Yunnan Construction and Investment Holding Group Co. Ltd. and Kunming Railway Vocational and Technical College is responsible for training the teachers who will work in the school. China has also helped Laos formulate railway laws and regulations, management rules as well as technical and operation standards, and sent experts to guide and assist in railway operation.

Bouangeurn Chanthavong is one of 40 Lao students who came to Kunming to learn railway operation and maintenance technologies at Kunming Railway Vocational and Technical College in March last year. She was also on board the D887 train on April 13 and will return to Laos in August this year to teach at the vocational school built by China in Vientiane to train more railway professionals for Laos. 

"I am very happy to see the launch of the international passenger trains. The train will make it more convenient for my family and friends to come to China for holidays," Chanthavong told Beijing Review.

Facilitating travel 

A senior woman, surnamed Tong, from Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, who was on board the train, was traveling to Laos with a travel company. "I have come with more than 20 friends from my hometown Shaoxing and Laos is the first stop on our Southeast Asia tour," Tong told Yunnan.cn. "The travel agency has chosen the first international passenger train from Kunming to Laos for us on purpose to make our journey more meaningful."

Ma Yong, a researcher with Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences, told Xinhua that the launch of the international passenger train will facilitate travel for people along the railway, promote tourism for both countries, and increase economic and trade exchange between the two countries.

Wen told Xinhua that in addition to Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, which is famous for its tropical rainforest, ethnic folk customs and familiarity to Lao people, he is planning travel routes to other destinations such as Kunming, Dali and Lijiang in Yunnan to expand his business. "I am confident about the market," he said.

Wu Liyun, an associate professor at the China Academy of Culture and Tourism at Beijing International Studies University, told China Economic Times that the train may attract tourists hoping to spend less on transportation as an international train ticket is usually cheaper than a plane ticket.

"Moreover, as the train takes longer and stops at multiple stations, tourists can get off at the different stations to experience more destinations. This is a new way of travel, like a cruise, and may attract more people to go abroad to experience foreign customs," she said.

(Print Edition Title: From Land-Locked to Land-Linked) 

Copyedited by G.P. Wilson 

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