China Daily Global Edition (USA)
Connectivity overcomes even mighty mountains
A year or so ago, Phachoumphon Thongmy could rightly complain that something was coming between him and his wife. The obstacle wasn’t a typical domestic difference, however, but rather a mighty mountain range.
Thongmy lives in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, while his wife, who is Chinese, and their son live in the Xishuangbanna Dai autonomous prefecture in Southwest China’s Yunnan province. In the middle stand rugged mountains that, until recently, could be negotiated only by using 1,600 kilometers of winding roads.
Each time the two got together, one of them faced an arduous journey that could easily take two days.
But that changed last year, with the opening of a passenger rail link connecting Vientiane and Kunming, the capital of Yunnan, which transformed the couple’s lives.
“Thanks to the railway, our family can finally be together,” Thongmy said recently. “It used to take me two days to get from Laos to China to meet my wife and son. Now, by train, it takes just five hours, and it’s easy and comfortable.”
Since the rail service opened, he has returned home once a month, and he plans to start a business trading between China and Laos.
The China-Laos Railway began operations in December 2021, and cross-border passenger service started on April 13, 2023.
Since the inaugural high-speed train departed from Kunming South Railway Station a year ago, similar passenger trains, all of which are painted a distinctive green, have traveled the route hundreds of times, covering the 1,035 kilometers between Vientiane and Kunming.
Yang Xueqin, a police officer at the Mohan checkpoint, said, “When it comes to the weekend and holidays, people from cities in Laos, such as Vientiane and Luang Prabang, take the train to cities in Yunnan, including Jinghong and Kunming.
“This mode of travel has become a new choice for many residents of both countries,” she added.
Over the past year, a total of 6,200 inbound and outbound trains have used the rail line, transporting more than 50 million metric tons of goods and carrying more than 183,000 passengers from 87 countries and regions, according to the Mohan checkpoint.
Non-Chinese passengers come mainly from Laos, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, and their travel is primarily for tourism, visiting relatives or conducting business.
Zou Wennian, a Chinese business owner engaged in the farm products trade between Laos and China, praised the convenience of the new rail link.
“Before the service opened, traveling from Kunming to Vientiane by road was just too long. In fact, I used to make the journey only once every two or three months. With the railway, I can arrive the same day, and I now do the trip once or twice a week. It’s made doing business a lot easier.”
Another business owner surnamed Wu, who imports iron ore from Laos, said it is 30 percent cheaper to transport the commodity by rail rather than road. In addition to cutting costs, the safety and ease of railway transportation have greatly benefited him and his company, he said.
Also over the past year, the railway’s international service has improved its operations, saving time and increasing seat capacity. For example, it used to take 90 minutes to clear customs, but it now takes around 50 minutes, and the number of seats per train has been increased from 250 to 350. The average number of passengers carried each day has surged from 300 in the beginning to about 700 now.
Zhang Hao, an immigration officer at the Mohan checkpoint, said that starting on Saturday, which was the one-year anniversary of the launch of cross-border service on the line, an additional pair of international passenger trains were to run from Xishuangbanna in Yunnan to Luang Prabang in Laos. This will double the number of trains to four a day, and the number of passengers arriving daily at the Mohan railway port is projected to reach 1,000.
Before the rail link, landlocked Laos had long struggled with expensive transportation that limited the country’s trade and development.
The China-Laos Railway does far more than merely connecting the two countries, according to Chindavong Xaiyasin, counselor of education and culture at the Laos embassy in China. It also fulfills Laos’ strategy to transform the country from landlocked to landlinked, he said.
Ever since the country became independent in the 1960s, a railway network has been a demand of the people of Laos. In 2015, their calls were heeded when the leaders of the two countries decided to build the railway.
“With the railway, the mountain from Kunming to Vientiane is no longer high, and the road no longer long,” President Xi Jinping said in December 2021 during the rail line’s opening ceremony. He expressed the hope that the railway would become “a golden line for the benefit of the people of both countries”.
At 12:37 am on March 18, a special train for tourism departed from Beijing with more than 400 passengers ready to start their journey along the line. The cross-border tour connects China’s domestic railway and international crossborder railway, traveling from North China to Southeast Asia.
Going to China by train has also become popular among Southeast Asian tourists.
“The journey is convenient and comfortable. With the railway, we can visit China frequently and explore various destinations,” said Kittsak Doungin, who is from Thailand, when entering China via the China-Laos Railway with a visa waiver.
Yan Xiangha, a tour guide with Yunnan International Travel Service Agency, said, “In fact, the railway is so popular that there’s a shortage of tour guides who speak Thai.”
Trips to China for Thai tourists are fully booked through October, Yan said.
The source of passengers has risen from an initial count of 27 countries and regions when the service began, to encompass 87 countries and regions, according to the Mohan checkpoint.
Inbound and outbound goods carried on the line are distributed to 12 countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, with China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam included.
“The China-Laos Railway has become a critical intermediate point connecting the world,” said Xaiyasin, the Laos embassy counselor.
“The railway connects Laos to the broader transportation networks,” he added. “It is fueling Laos’ growth and revitalizing trade and economy in Southeast Asia.”
In the year since its launch, ChinaLaos Railway has brought countries, and people, closer together