Now in China, Now in Vietnam

Now I am in land of China...Now I am in land of Vietnam...

I am standing on the land of China looking at Vietnam which is located just at the opposite bank of the river.

After spending one night at Longzhou (龙州), I took early bus to Shuolong(硕龙), followed by minivan to Detian(德天) entrance. As there is no other visitor, it is like chartering the whole minivan all the way to Detian. The young driver is kind enough to stop along the way for me to take photos. It is exciting moment to chit chat with him all the way. He also waited for me outside the entrance gate, but unfortunately, a minor accident happened on the way back to Shuolong that I had to walked from half way all the way to Shuolong. Luckily it is downhill all the way and he is honest that he didn't charge me at all.

Niagara, Victoria and Iguazu falls are among the world most famous international border crossing waterfalls. Well, it is a bit too far, or rather too costly for me to travel there at the moment. Therefore, for me to gain similar experience, I had chosen the waterfalls crossing China and Vietnam borders which is the 4th largest waterfall along a national border after Iguazu, Victoria and Niagara. This waterfall consists of two section - Detian and Ban Yue Waterfall (德天瀑布&板约瀑布). Detian Waterfall is located in Guangxi province while Ban Yue in Cao Bang province. The main stream split the land into land of Vietnam and China.

The waterfall is surrounded by karst which make it beautiful with unique landscape. Detian waterfall is much bigger comparing to Ban Yue waterfall located in land of Vietnam.

Detian waterfall has 3 tiers. I was there during winter, and therefore it is considered dry season (枯水期). However, as it does not heavy flow, I could see the wonderful lines of the water flow.

While on the another bank of the stream, Ban Yue waterfall is much smaller in comparison with Detian Waterfall. That is why this Chinese description 得天(DeTian) 独厚 becomes even more meaningful, as land of China is blessed.

On the top of the waterfall, there are plenty of Chinese as well as Vietnamese traders. This piece of land belongs to the Vietnamese and the Vietnamese trades are selling all kinds of stuff especially cigarette and souvenirs. Besides that, there is one stone tablet on top of the waterfall marking the border point of Guangxi Province. The stone tablet is written in both Chinese 中国广西界碑and French language.

The highest tier of Detian waterfall made up of small streams among rocks with beautiful karst background. It cannot really be seen from the walkway, and it surprises me with beautiful view.

This waterfall marks the diplomatic relationship between China and Vietnam, and how this land is blessed with plenty of water source for agricultural activities. A memorable experience of putting one foot on the land of China while another foot on the land of Vietnam.

To be continued.....

To China via Friendship Pass (YouYiGuan) 穿过友谊关

It is year end and my travel desire hits me again. At very last minute plan, I decide to visit some places near border of China and Vietnam. No detailed plan is done, just booked my air ticket to Hanoi, get my China visa done, stuff few items into my backpack and here I am in LCCT early morning of Christmas Eve in year 2008.

The 3 hour flight took me to Hanoi, and as landed in Hanoi airport, I managed to catch the public bus to the bus station where I was supposed to head on to Lang Son in Northern Vietnam. However, I fell asleep on the public bus, and ended up in the city centre of Hanoi. Therefore, I had no choice but to back track paying another round of bus fare, on board the same bus after it made the U-turn.

It took me around 3 to 4 hours from Hanoi to Lang Son using van. It was great that I met Mr Wu, a decent Chinese from Ping Xiang working as translator in Ho Chin Minh. He is helpful that he shared with me about the border crossing to China, and he even paid for my immigration fee when we reached the border.

It was an exciting moment when I reached the border crossing point, the Friendship Pass (You Yi Guan). There are many Chinese who are either visitors or business travelers at the immigration. I didnt really see any backpacking traveler at the check point that day, and therefore, when the Chinese is trying to cut my queue at the immigration check point, the immigration officer instructed them to follow the queue. This at least gave me a better image for my first step into the land of Chine. Not many questions were thrown to me at the immigration and there I went into China.

Friendship Pass or YouYiGuan 友谊关 is one of the nine famous border checkpoints in China. It was named YouYiGuan only in year 1965 by Ministry of Internal Affairs. A tunnel and highway is being built to promote the relationship between China and Vietnam.

It is always good to see the diplomatic arrangement between two countries. There are so many unsafe country borders in the world which always end up with saddening incident such as bombing etc. PEACE!

After some photography moment at the border, I took a cab to nearest town Pingxiang and bus to Longzhou for overnight.

To be continued...