Spent most of the journey to China in tunnels broken up occasionally by stunning gorges. Economic returns aside, it's quite the engineering feat. The border crossing adds significant journey time—we first disembark at Boten on the Laos side to exit the country before hopping back on the train for the same on the Chinese side.

I'd been curious about Boten since reading Kristian Odebjer's travel journal. There's quite a cleavage between its special economic zone status and the reality on the ground—an almost empty tower block town which is silent during the day but comes to life in the evening with illicit services. Most people here speak Mandarin, follow Beijing time and use RMB, so it feels more Chinese than Laos.

The Xishuangbanna 西双版纳 stopover was originally motivated simply by it's unique name which comes from the Dai (local ethnic group) language. "Xishuang西双" means twelve, "Banna版纳" means rice fields/administrative unit.

The night market is mostly a Chinese stereotype of Southeast Asia. If you've visited cultural villages in China, you'll be familiar with the scene—Han Chinese dancing in ethnic minority clothing and selling skewers. Interestingly, most vendors are North-East Chinese—here to make their fortunes in the warmer climate.

🚂 Next: Kunming 昆明🇨🇳