BEIJING: Laotian Thepmoukda used to travel between Vientiane, the capital of Laos, and Boten, a city that borders China, for business by car. “The trip took several hours. The road was slippery, especially during the monsoon, and some sections were even not built with asphalt, but with mud,” the 27-year-old woman said, adding that she usually prayed onboard with the Zen gesture for herself and other passengers. “Some sections wind through the mountains. I was afraid when I traveled by car, especially on foggy and rainy days.”
But since the opening of the cross-border railway linking China and Laos in December, Thepmoukda feels better about the journey. The first ride Thepmoukda took on the train was when she traveled back from Boten to Vientiane. She said it reminded her of her university days, when she used to travel around China during school breaks while studying in Shanghai.
“Most importantly, it is safe. It only takes about three hours, half the time it used to take by car,” she said. “Many of my family members and friends had never traveled by train before, and some had never even seen a train. The opening of the China-Laos Railway has given many Laotian people like them the opportunity to experience this historic infrastructure firsthand.”
–The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
