Still not thought of where to go for the May Day holiday? Why not fly down to Kunming in Yunnan (always a good idea) and then hop on the train that will take you over 1,000 kilometres to visit the mysterious, but beautiful, Laotian capital of Vientiane?
还没想好五一假期去哪里玩吗？为什么不飞往云南昆明（总是个好主意），然后搭乘火车，穿越 1,000 多公里，参观神秘而美丽的老挝首都万象？
The service, which began on 13 April, runs on a line between the two cities that opened in December, 2021. Until now, however, trains along the route ran almost entirely as freight only, with COVID having all but completely shut down international travel.
该服务于 4 月 13 日开始运行，运行于 2021 年 12 月开通的两座城市之间的线路上。然而，到目前为止，沿线的火车几乎完全只作为货运运行，而新冠疫情几乎完全关闭了国际旅行。
By 9 April of this year, that freight service had carried some 18.4 million tonnes of freight between China and Laos.
截至今年4月9日，该货运服务已在中国和老挝之间运送了约1840万吨货物。
The two “highish-speed trains” for the 1,024 kilometre route, built by CRRC Dalian, have a maximum speed of 160 kilometres per hour, as Railway Gazette reports.
据铁路公报报道，中车大连公司承建的全长1024公里的两列“高铁”最高时速为160公里。
The pair is branded “Lancang”, in part a reference to the upper section of the Mekong River that lies in China, symbolising the positive aspects of the China-Laos relationship.
这双鞋的品牌是“澜沧”，部分是指位于中国的湄公河上游，象征着中老关系的积极方面。
In addition, one of the trains is painted in a red, white and blue colour scheme, in reference to the Laotian flag.
此外，其中一列火车参照老挝国旗，采用红、白、蓝配色方案。
Each with a capacity for 720 passengers, the train departing Kunming makes stops at Pu’er, Xishuangbanna, Mohan, Moding, Luang Prabang and Wanrong.
昆明出发的列车每趟可容纳720名乘客，途经普洱、西双版纳、磨憨、莫丁、琅勃拉邦和万荣。
Speaking with Xinhua when the line first opened, Lachan Suvanthung, a hotel receptionist in tourist-hotspot, Vang Vieng, said, “When it operates normally and the COVID-19 situation in our country improves significantly, I believe the railway will make local people’s life easier and the tourism sector will also see strong growth in the future”.
旅游热点万荣市的酒店接待员Lachan Suvanthung在铁路首次开通时接受新华社采访时表示，“当铁路正常运营且我国的COVID-19疫情显着改善时，我相信铁路将使当地人的生活变得更加轻松，旅游业也将在未来实现强劲增长”。
The D887 train departs Kunming South each day at 08:08, for an arrival in Vientiane at 17:38, some 10 and a half hours later (Laos is 1 hour behind China). Second-class tickets cost ¥542, while first class will set you back ¥864.
D887次列车每天08:08从昆明南出发，17:38到达万象，晚点约10个半小时（老挝比中国晚1小时）。二等座票价为542日元，一等座票价为864日元。
