Trains between Vietnam and China

There are two railway lines between Vietnam and China, one is Hanoi - Pingxiang - Nam Ninh (Nanning, China) line, and the other is the historical Vietnam - Yunnan line. If you would like to take the cross-border overnight train, Hanoi - Nam Ninh is the only choice. While the other route of Lao Cai - Hekou - Kunming (Vietnam - Yunnan line) is faster and more convenient.
 
The cross-border railway between Pingxiang, China and Hanoi, Vietnam was firstly built in 1940. In November 1951, construction of the Nanning - Pingxiang section in China started. Since the railway in Vietnam is a narrow-gauge track built by France in the past, the section from Pingxiang to Youyiguan was also paved with narrow-gauge for the convenience of docking. In this way, Pingxiang Station on the Chinese side has actually become a transfer station for the combined railway transportation between the two countries.

On August 2, 1955, the first Sino-Vietnamese international intermodal train departed from Beijing and reached Pingxiang after dozens of hours, then went all the way to Hanoi. However, at the end of the 1970s, this international railway was completely interrupted. 17 years later, on February 14, 1996, the ceremony of the restoring of China-Vietnam International Railway was held at the Pingxiang Railway Station. The Hanoi-Pingxiang-Beijing-Moscow international train shuttled back and forth, and Pingxiang Station became an important hub for the intercontinental railway transportation line from Eastern Europe to Southeast Asia.

Since the journey time for Hanoi - Beijing is too long, most of the travelers will only take the train from Hanoi to Nanning, then connect China high speed train or domestic flight from Nanning to Beijing.

The travel distance for this route is about 400km and takes around 12 hours. Only soft sleepers are set on the train, one cabin contains 4 berths, the carriages are air conditioned. Toilet, hand sink, water heater, pillow and blanket are available. The ticket fare is around USD45 one way.  One thing to notice is that the train departs from Gia Lam station in Hanoi, which is a little far to the city center. Passengers need to get off the train with their luggage for immigration inspection at Dong Dang (Vietnam) and Pingxiang (China).
  

Country	Train No.	Station	Arr. Time	Dep. Time
Vietnam	MR2	Hanoi (Gia Lam)	-	21:40
		Bac Giang	23:39	23:42
		Dong Dang	03:00+	04:09
China	T8702	Pingxiang	04:41	06:31
		Chongzuo	08:10	08:16
		Nanning (Nam Ninh)	10:10	-

  

Country	Train No.	Station	Arr. Time	Dep. Time
China	T8701	Nanning (Nam Ninh)	-	18:05
		Chongzuo	20:11	20:17
		Pingxiang	22:10	23:41
Vietnam	MR1	Dong Dang	00:22+	02:55
		Bac Giang	05:33	05:36
		Hanoi (Gia Lam)	06:30	-

 

Lao Cai in Vietnam and Hekou in China face each other over the Red River. The two cities are at the junction of the Red River and the Nanxi River. Hekou Port is the transportation hub of the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway, Kunhe Highway, and Red River Channel. It is the most convenient land route from southwest China to Southeast Asia and the South Pacific.

Now, travelers could cross the border at Lao Cai Vietnam to Hekou, China. From Hekou, you could take high speed train to Kunming to start your China trip, this line was developed from the historical Vietnam - Yunnan Train, which was originally built from Haiphong (Vietnam) - Kunming (China) by France during 1904-1910.

Border Opening Times (China is one hour ahead of Vietnam)

Vietnam Time: 07:00-22:00
China Time: 08:00-23:00
 

(Updated on Aug 20, 2020)
 

Train No.	Departure	Arrival	Train Type	Ticket Fare
C8332	08:10	12:29	High Speed Train	USD14 for 2nd Class Seat USD23 for 1st Class Seat
C8336	13:00	17:25
C8340	18:02	21:59
K9826	09:00	16:16	Normal Train	USD8 for Hard Seat
				USD13 for Soft Seat