If you want to go from China to Vietnam, a good place to start from is Nanning, a major city in the south of China. From there it is easy to catch a bus or a train to Hanoi (Vietnam).
I chose to take the bus from Nanning to Hanoi.
In 2010 the ticket price for one way was 148 Yuan. The ticket can be purchased at the ticket office of Langdon bus station (see map).
There are 3 buses leaving Nanning every day at 8:30, 9:00 and 9:30 in the morning (bus schedule for 2010). The bus ride to Hanoi takes about 8 hours.
The Langdon ticket office, the Langdon bus station, the railway station and the Lotusland hostel are all within walking distance from each other (see map). (As Sid commented bellow, the bus station in the map is probably not Langdon bus station. Nevertheless, the bus station in the map is exactly the place where my bus to Hanoi departed.)
After you cross the border you have to change to a different bus in Vietnam. On the Vietnamese side of the border you have to take one of the shuttle cars. They are free of charge if you have a bus ticket and they automatically bring you to the bus station. From there you have to catch another bus to Hanoi. People will help you and lead you to the right bus if you show them your ticket.
I think normally the bus should drop you off at a bus station in Hanoi. However in our case the bus dropped us of in a side alley somewhere in suburbs of Hanoi. At our arrival many taxi drivers where already waiting for us. Since we were out in nowhere we had no other choice than to take a taxi to get to our hostel in the city center. I shared the taxi with two other people and we managed to make up a price of 120000 Dong beforehand, so it wasn’t that bad. However we had some discussions with the taxi driver after the ride, because the meter actually showed more than 200000 Dong. The taxi ride was actually very long. But in the end we paid the price which we decided on beforehand.
The bus is quite luxury on the Chinese side route. On the Vietnamese side the bus is less luxury but still ok. The scenery on this trip is very nice, and its especially interesting to see the big change in the architecture right after crossing the border to Vietnam.
Hey, just to report a mistake, the station on your map in not Langdon.
Langdon bus terminal is at the end of Minzu Avenue (Minzu dadao).
From Lotus Land hotel you gotta take bus number 6 until its terminus (about 40min). The bus stop is a few meters after the McDonald’s on Chaoyang road.
Cheers
Thank you Sid for your comment! I think you are right. Nevertheless, the bus station in the map above is still the place where my bus to Hanoi departed. I can’t find out what the actual name of this bus station is.
1. Re: Nanning to Hanoi
Jun 08, 2013, 2:13 AM
For anyone going by Bus from Nanning to Hanoi here are a few tips:
BUS INFORMATION:
In Nanning you can buy bus tickets to Hanoi at both the Langdong Bus station and the Langdong bus ticket office, both very near the Nanning train station. It’s convenient if you are staying in that part of town. I have photo’s I will attach if allowed with phone number, address, etc. It’s all in Chinese and the staff speak limited, if any, English. The buses leave from the bus terminal. I stayed on Chaoyang road and walked to the bus station in 10 minutes.
Location of bus terminal: South You’Ai Road, number 4, in between Zhong Hua & Hua Dong Roads.
Location of ticket office: Hua Dong road, in between Chaoyang & Su Zhou roads, close to Chaoyang road.
All of these streets can be easily seen on Google maps by looking just below the Nanning train station.
VISA INFORMATION:
You can get your Vietnam visa at the Nanning consulate. It is a ways from the train station (where I stayed) and you can get there on bus number 6. I have some photo’s of the stops if allowed to post. You take the bus to 民族金州路口 (in pinyin Min Zu Jin Zhou Lu Kou) stop. there is no Eng on the bus signs but you can watch the signs in the bus that show the station. Use the underpass to cross the street, head in the same direction as bus for a block. The consulate is in the Bank of China building. The entrance is on the side street around the back – 27th floor. Hours are 9-6. Drop off in the morning, pick up 2 days later in afternoon. Going back you take the same bus, the return stop is opposite from where you got off the bus but about a block back towards town. Good luck 🙂
THE TRIP TO HANOI
The journey is uneventful – but full of smoky smelling chinese men, just follow everyone else and you will complete all the processes on each side of the borders. The ride is quite pretty with karsts and scenic beauty. One important tip: When you go to get the new bus to Hanoi (one bus from Nanning to border, then change to another to Hanoi) be sure to ask about which station they go to in Hanoi. There are 3 stations in Hanoi. The Hong Ha (or Hong He as the Chinese say) is very close to the Old Quarter so try to get that one. I waited for about 45 minutes to catch the next bus so I would be near the Old Qtr and avoid any ripoffs, etc. Since it was my first trip to VN I was being careful. They didn’t speak Eng at the bus station so try to find some one to help. The Vietnamese all spoke chinese but not Eng. Most people doing this route were Chinese.
Hope that covers everything, happy to help if you have more questions!
The building where was Langdon ticket office is closed by some works for the new subway, so yo can still buying the ticket to Vietnam in Langdon bus station (Jan 2014)
Hi, great info. My question is: I know there is a 15 day visa exemption visit for British Nationals (along with other nationals)> I know this is the case when entering Vietnam via airports but not sure if it holds for land entry at the border. I will be travelling by bus from Nanning to Hanoi.
Update 2019 (07.04) everything is still the same, the only slight difference is that the bus leaves at 7.50 or 8.50, the price is 177 yuan and the bus in Vietnam has wifi.
Cheers from Hanoi
Thank you for the useful informations!
Thank you Alessandra!
Hi Patrick,
I know it’s quite late to reply, but just in case, yes you should be able to get your visa exemption for land entry. I’m a fellow Brit living in Nanning and took the train to Hanoi last month with no problems.