Yunnan's Honghe: Historic towns, ethnic nationalities and a unique cross-border railway

Bridge to Lao Cai Vietnam. Sunset across Red River from Hekou 1999.  [Photo by Bruce Connolly/chinadaily.com.cn]

I spent five fascinating days in Hekou - then not a tourist destination but more a commercial node where trade between both countries came together. I would watch as endless streams of women wearing circular bamboo hats pushed bicycles heavily laden with goods north across the border bridge towards the railway station. Tropical produce was loaded onto freight trains for onward shipment while goods from China, including many sacks of potatoes, were shipped back across the border. Coal and machinery also went south. Regularly I looked over to the compact Vietnamese city of Lao Cai with its seemingly attractive French-influenced domestic architecture.

Motorcycles were popular in Hekou, drivers wearing green army-style hard hats. Ethnic groups, particularly the Hani, in colorful traditional costumes walked the streets. Small restaurants abounded, offering mixtures of domestic and Vietnamese cuisine. Fish heads were popular - "No thanks!" I would repeat. Coconuts were piled on street side stalls alongside hammocks, large calendars, polished stones, clothes and so much more.

Most nights I went to a bustling indoor market where Vietnamese dialects blended with more familiar Chinese tones. I would sit at a small food kiosk, consuming bowls of hot spicy beef noodles, while transfixed at the constantly flowing scenes around me. A stallholder's television featured Vietnamese folk songs with quite beautiful scenic images. Leaving the market I would sit by the Red River and have a cold beer while watching the sun setting over jagged southern peaks.