August 2026

After our Vietnam visit we were dropped off at Lao Cai. This is the border crossing to China where we cross over the river to the town of Hekou China. the guide was a bit worried whether we can enter China even though New Zealanders didn’t need a visa. He had never dropped off tourists here before but returned them to Hanoi via a very long drive. Our only hassle getting into China was the gate monitoring our health wouldn’t let us in. Apparently we were too hot! One of the locals gestured to us to go and stand in front of the large floor standing fan for a while. This cooled us down and the machine let us pass through the gate!.

Hekou is a popular border town and in peak season it can get very busy. In the old days it was called little Hong Kong because of all the duty free trading going on with goods being shipped back into Vietnam from China. Apparently the Government changed the tax rules so it became less advantageous. We really enjoyed our stay here, partly because it was low season and not many tourists. Also the town is quite cute with the french architecture. Remnants of past colonial days.You can tell by my photos how empty it was. I photographed my favourite snack done in a tandoori . It was like naan bread but with a filling inside. We returned the next day for breakfast and met a bunch of Vietnamese girls visiting Hekou for the day.