At 4 am on April 25, Ngoc Mai from Cau Giay Ward in Hanoi arrived at the Lao Cai International Border Gate to begin entry procedures for her trip to China. However, it was not until around 10 am that she officially completed immigration.
“I knew holiday travel would mean more people, but I did not expect it to be this crowded,” she said after spending six hours moving slowly through the packed crowd.
According to Mai, most of the travellers were part of organised tours, with guides using loudspeakers to help manage groups and make announcements.
She had booked a three-day tour to Yunnan, China, priced at VND 3.5 million (approximately USD 135). She said the tour was so affordable that it cost little more than a one-way domestic flight ticket, making the long wait worthwhile.
Like Mai, Tuan Hai from Hung Yen Province and his group of friends spent nearly five hours completing procedures.
They booked a four-day, four-night Hekou-Dali-Kunming tour for nearly VND 7 million (approximately USD 270). Seeing the huge crowds for the first time left him overwhelmed.
Hai said the group left at 11 pm on April 24 and arrived in Lao Cai early the next morning. After a short rest and breakfast, they headed straight to the border gate to secure a place in line.
“After travelling overnight, moving constantly and then standing around waiting, everyone was exhausted,” he said.
Nguyen Minh Son, a tour guide with Go China, said demand for China tours during the holiday period had risen sharply compared with normal days, leading to much longer immigration times.
“Overland tours are becoming very popular because of their low cost, starting from just over VND 3 million (approximately USD 115) per person,” he said.
He added that most customers were families, older travellers or close groups of friends. Affordable prices, simple procedures and road travel convenience made these tours especially attractive during peak holiday periods.
Ngoc Cham, a representative of Top One Travel, a company specialising in overland China tours, said the agency expected to serve around 3,300 customers crossing through border gates during the Hung Kings holiday and the Reunification Day (April 30) holiday peak travel period.
This marks an increase of around 110 per cent compared with the same period last year. On April 25 alone, the company handled about 650 travellers.
Current market prices show that popular three to four-day overland tours to destinations such as Pingbian and Jianshui departing from Lao Cai International Border Gate range from VND 3.9 million to VND 5.9 million (approximately USD 150 to USD 227).
Travellers departing from Mong Cai International Border Gate in Quang Ninh can join three-day tours to Nanning priced from VND 3.9 million to VND 4.5 million (approximately USD 150 to USD 173), depending on the itinerary.
Four-day Dali and Kunming tours range from VND 4 million to VND 5 million (approximately USD 154 to USD 192), while four-day tours to Liuzhou cost between VND 6 million and VND 7 million (approximately USD 231 to USD 270).
More premium tours to Chongqing and Guilin lasting four days range from VND 9 million to VND 13 million (approximately USD 346 to USD 500), while Dali and Lijiang tours are priced from VND 7.5 million to VND 13 million (approximately USD 288 to USD 500).
