"Sea of people" waited for 5 hours, using... slippers to reserve a spot at Lao Cai border gate

At 4am on December 30, Luong Huong (25 years old, Hanoi) arrived at Lao Cai International Border Gate. Expecting it to be crowded, Huong and her group of friends left early. Arriving at dawn, Huong was surprised to see hundreds of people waiting.

"There were small gaps in the crowd. I tried to squeeze in but saw people had left bricks, newspapers, slippers... there to save space," Luong Huong said.

As the sky gradually brightened, more and more people poured into the yard in front of the border gate. Tourist groups distinguished themselves by wearing different colored baseball caps. They could only follow the group by the guide's flag, because it was almost impossible to see the leader's face, the distance was too tight.

Waiting for the time to check in, the line of people jostled, inching their way towards the door, just waiting for the door to open and rush in.

Biển người chờ đợi 5 tiếng, dùng... dép để giữ chỗ ở cửa khẩu Lào Cai - 1 — Tourist groups often have to line up at Lao Cai International Border Gate early, using many ways to "get a seat" (Photo: Character provided).

"Even though we arrived early, we still had to queue in a stuffy space with thousands of people. By 8am, we could barely move. When we started to check in, the air outside was fresher," Luong Huong said.

Among these, apart from some border residents, the majority are tourists. Large groups of tourists come from many localities to China for entertainment and sightseeing with passports.

Ms. Ninh Mai Hoa, a tour guide for a Hanoi travel company specializing in leading tours through the Hekou border gate (China), said that in 2023, China tours by road will be very popular with Vietnamese tourists because of the low cost and simple paperwork.

In particular, this year's New Year holiday falls on a weekend, so the number of customers buying tours has increased dramatically.

Biển người chờ đợi 5 tiếng, dùng... dép để giữ chỗ ở cửa khẩu Lào Cai - 2 — The number of visitors passing through the border gate increased dramatically on the first day of the New Year holiday (Photo: Duc Truong).

Similarly, Ms. Bui Thi Thuy, representative of G10 Travel company, said that two weeks before the New Year holiday, the company received about 600 customers every day interested in and asking about the Hekou (China) tour.

However, Tet is the end of the year, work is so busy that Ms. Thuy's company only receives 100-200 customers/day.

"There are a lot of customers from both Chinese and Vietnamese companies, so the time to welcome customers and wait for procedures is prolonged. My company only dares to receive more than 100-200 customers/day to ensure fast and quality service for customers," said Ms. Thuy.

Tourists going on a tour to China through Lao Cai border gate using a travel document (not a visa affixed at the Chinese Embassy) will have to queue up to wait for immigration procedures.

Biển người chờ đợi 5 tiếng, dùng... dép để giữ chỗ ở cửa khẩu Lào Cai - 3 — Sea of people lined up from early morning on December 30 at Lao Cai International Border Gate (Photo: Provided by the character).

On normal days, the wait can last up to 3-4 hours. Therefore, on holidays, the wait time will be longer, there are groups lining up from 5am but only entering China in the early afternoon.

Because of the long waits in line, tour guides often advise tourists to bring water, snacks, and foldable chairs. To identify their group among the crowd, they often give tourists badges, uniform hats, etc. so they don’t get lost.

With less than 5 million VND, Ms. Ha Xuan Thanh was able to have a 4-day, 3-night trip abroad to visit some tourist destinations in Yunnan, China.

Ms. Thanh said her trip was much cheaper than domestic trips because she didn’t have to pay for airfare. She was picked up by a travel agency on a sleeper bus from Hanoi to Lao Cai, then when she got to China, they continued their journey by car.

Biển người chờ đợi 5 tiếng, dùng... dép để giữ chỗ ở cửa khẩu Lào Cai - 4 — After queuing for about 5 hours at Lao Cai border gate, tourists continued to queue to enter the Hekou (China) side (Photo: Provided by the character).

According to Ms. Thanh, the hardest part was lining up to go through the border gate. She and the other members of the group were required to wake up at 5am, have breakfast at Lao Cai International Border Gate and wait to exit. After exiting, they continued to line up to enter China through the Hekou border gate.

"This is the stage that tests tourists' patience. In addition to tourists, there are many locals who come to trade and do business. On weekend mornings, people will have to wait for many hours. Like my group that day, it took 5 hours to clear customs," said Ms. Thanh.

Statistics from Lao Cai International Border Gate show that as of December 14, more than 650,000 Vietnamese nationals have entered China through this border gate, including those exiting with passports and travel documents.

On September 2, tourists had to wait up to 5 hours to cross the Lao Cai border gate to travel to China. This situation continued to repeat itself on New Year's Day.

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