China – Lao Border
International and Interprovincial Buses from Jinghong
There are three bus stations within Jing Hong city; Jing Hong Passenger Bus Station, Banna Bus Station and Jing Hong South Terminal Bus Station. Jing Hong Passenger Bus Station and Banna Bus Stations are within walkable distance whilst Jing Hong South Terminal Bus Station is a little less than three kilometres away by foot.
Jing Hong South Terminal Bus Station serves provincial routes, with coaches to other Yunnan cities and nearby villages within Xishuangbanna. All buses from Kunming will arrive at Jing Hong South Bus Station.
Jing Hong South Bus Station
✉ Address: No. 77 Menghai Road, Jinghong City， Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture.
✉ Chinese Address: 西双版纳州景洪市勐海路77号.
🕖 Opening Hours: 07:00 to 18:00, Monday to Sunday.
☏ Telephone Number: 0691-2139137. Note please, the operator speaks Chinese only.
Banna Bus Station serves both interprovincial and provincial routes, with coaches to other Chinese provinces and other Yunnan cities. If you would like to cross the border into Laos, the city furthest south you can get to with a ticket from Banna Bus Station is Mohan.
Banna Bus Station
✉ Address: No. 3, Minhang Road, Jinghong City.
✉ Chinese Address: 西双版纳景洪市民航路3号.
🕖 Opening Hours: 07:00 to 18:00, Monday to Sunday.
☏ Telephone Number: 0691-2124427. The operator speaks Chinese only.
Jinghong Passenger Bus Station (景洪汽车客运站) Bus Schedule as of July 2019
Jinghong Passenger Bus Station
✉ Address: No. 16, Mengle Avenue, Jinghong City， Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture.
✉ Chinese Address: 西双版纳州景洪市勐泐大道16号.
🕖 Opening Hours: 07:00 to 18:00, Monday to Sunday.
☏ Telephone Number: 0691-2123171. Note please, the operator speaks Chinese only.
If you are leaving for Laos, Jing Hong Bus Station is the only bus station within Jing Hong city area that sells tickets to certain Laotian cities. You can also buy bus tickets to Laos at Mengla and Mohan cities further south. Jing Hong Bus Station also has coaches leaving for other Chinese cities.
The Chinese border town of Mohan offers coaches to even more Laotian destinations, including Pakse, Pak Mong and the Golden Triangle. Other than that, only provincial buses to other Yunnan cities can be bought here.
Crossing over to Laos
My bus to Mohan was scheduled at 0920 and I left my hostel only at 0900 as the bus station could be easily reached on foot. I turned on Chinese Amaps to direct me to the Jing Hong Bus station. My surroundings grew strangely unfamiliar as I walked on. At 0915, I reached the bus station, numbed to realize that my fear had turned into reality; this not the bus station I had bought my ticket from yesterday. Anxious and confused, I showed my ticket to those around me. They said they didn’t have this bus here. A group of private hire drivers standing outside the bus station helped clear my confusion. I was at the wrong bus station. I was at the Jing Hong Passenger Bus Station and my bus for Mohan leaves from the Banna Bus Station. “Banna Bus Station?” I was confused. This was the first time I have heard of Banna Bus Station. I must have gone there the day before. I had been meaning to buy my ticket at Jing Hong Bus Station all along but had somehow unknowingly bought it at the wrong bus station.
“Are there buses to Luang Namtha from Jing Hong Bus Station?” I asked.
“There’s one at 1040. But you should go to the Banna Bus Station and get a refund first. You can come back and buy a ticket to Luang Namtha later.”
I hadn’t thought about refunding my bus ticket. I only thought about getting on the bus to Luang Namtha. There was only one daily bus and I was afraid it would be full if I bought it any later. Yet, I understood what he meant. My bus to Mohan was leaving in two minutes and the earlier I made it to Banna Bus Station to cancel the bus ticket, the higher the refund amount. Banna Bus Station was not far, only a mere 700 metres away but that distance seemed unwalkable at that point of time. One of the private hire drivers drove me to Banna Bus Station to refund my ticket for 10 yuan. I would normally avoid private hire cars but I was in a frantic rush. I reached Banna Bus Station at 0925, five minutes past my bus departure time. My bus had already left, they apologized for refunding only half my ticket price. Extremely courteous of them especially when it was my mistake and I thought it was already great that I could get a refund. The private hire driver was waiting outside to take me back to Jing Hong Bus Station. I nervously got back into the 7-seater vehicle he drove tourists in. We had agreed on 10 yuan for the journey to Banna Bus Station and I wasn’t sure if he would play sudden tricks and jack up the price on the way back. Yet, I had to purchase a ticket to Luang Namtha as soon as possible. Despite my worries, we talked a bit. We were of the same age and he could drive all vehicle classes. When we reached Jing Hong Bus Station, I handed him 20 yuan
“10 yuan for the journey to Banna Bus Station and 10 yuan for the journey back.” I explained.
“10 yuan is enough.” he replied. I was relieved. He could have asked for more. My silly mistake could have costed me a lot more if not for his honesty. My ordeal wasn’t yet over. I nervously got behind the queue for bus tickets, hoping that the tickets to Luang Namtha weren’t sold out. “The bus leaves at 1040,” warned the lady over the counter as she printed my bus ticket. I could leave for Luang Namtha today!
All the passengers were already waiting to board the bus by 1030. Our luggages were crammed into the back of the bus and we left shortly after 1040. Interestingly, the bus was filled with more children and young adults. Beside me was a lady who boarded the bus with her friend. She was video calling their teacher in fluent Chinese, though she evidently wasn’t Chinese herself. Her friend was undeniably Thai though and both of them communicated in Thai, however this lady beside me didn’t really seem Thai too. The bus pulled into Mengla at 1255 to pick up hardware.
We stopped by Mohan, the last Chinese town before crossing the border for lunch at 1400. Some locals approached us, asking if we wanted to change money. I decided to ask the boss of the place I was eating at if he knew of any currency exchange shops nearby. The boss showed me to a convenience shop instead. They offered a reasonable rate of 1:1250, similar to what the hostel manager had mentioned and I decided to change some money here.
After lunch, we arrived at the border pretty quickly. Immigration was fairly efficient, foreigners had to simply fill out a Chinese departure card. All of us were stamped out of China within fifteen minutes and we gathered outside the immigration building to wait for the bus which was taking an unbelievably long time. We soon learnt the reason why. The driver was transporting loads of vegetables and hardware into Luang Namtha. These goods were taking some time to go through the customs and were also the reason why we had to cram out luggages at the back of the bus instead of the luggage compartment.
One of the ladies kindly helped the driver load vegetables back on the bus.
We started to make conversation amongst ourselves. There were two Chinese men amongst us, one a tourist and another a businessman. They spoke about preparing money for their entry on the Lao side.
“How much do you have to pay?” I asked.
“About 250.” they replied.
“Does that mean I’ll have to pay too?” the Thai lady asked.
“Actually I believe we won’t have to pay because we are all part of ASEAN.. but lets get 250 yuan ready first just in case.” I was worried. I certainly did not think that crossing over to Laos would incur a cost. It wasn’t a small sum.
“Let’s cross over first,” a Laotian lady said. She was travelling with her infant son and her Chinese sister in law. “It’s only a short walk away. We might be held up at the Lao side so if we go first, the bus need not wait for us at the Lao side.” We walked on, baby and backpack on hand. The Laotian lady had a captivating presence. She had a cherubic smile and spoke fluent Chinese, having got married to a Chinese man. She often crosses the land border to visit her family back in Laos, this time with her son and her sister in law. Her two elder daughters were in China with their father. Hearing that it was my first time at the land border, they offered to take photos for me and so they did till my phone ran out of available space though my phone was already nearly full to begin with. She then showed me the document she travels on. It wasn’t a passport, it was a white card with a picture of her and her son on it. She was only two years older than me.
The Laotian lady and her sister in law helped to enquire about the procedures for my entry into Laos. Fortunately, all I needed was an entry stamp in my passport. The Chinese men related that they had to pay 215 yuan each. As we waited for the driver who was queueing to get through Lao immigration, the Laotian lady pointed at him and said to me:
“That’s my brother in law.”
“You’re a family?” I was surprised. It now made sense why the Chinese lady would help the driver load vegetables onto the bus.
“Yes, he’s from Guangxi. He speaks Lao too.” she replied. That really sounded impressive. The Chinese businessman and I had out eyes glued to the windows as we drove past miles of red barren landscape for the first time, watching the red dust dissipate behind us as the bus drove through on the red soil towards Boten at 1610.
Border established in 2010 as inscribed further below (not seen).
The lady sitting beside me was also Laotian, she and her friend studied Chinese in Kunming and she was showing her friend around her hometown for the holidays. She asked me for my guesthouse name and kindly suggested that I could take a songthaew with them to my guesthouse later. The bus would stop twice for alighting passengers, first at Luang Namtha provincial bus station which is outside town area and the second, within Luang Namtha City itself. At 1700, we reached Luang Namtha town and I followed the two ladies to a songthaew. I was dropped off at my guesthouse first and the ride to my guesthouse was only 10,000 kip, a price I definitely would miss out on if I had caught the songthaew alone.
