Boost for solo travelers

The resumption of overland routes from Yunnan will benefit individual travelers from Kunming, capital of the province, to Laos and Thailand via the Kunming-Bangkok Expressway.

The expressway is more than 1,800 km long and stretches for 688 km from Kunming to Xishuangbanna Dai autonomous prefecture in China. It continues for another 247 km across Laos, through the capital Vientiane, and then continues for 813 km through Thailand to the capital, Bangkok.

Since it opened in 2008, the Kunming-Bangkok Expressway has seen an increasing number of visitors driving their cars through the exotic scenery. Wang Kai, a 28-year-old accountant in Kunming, was one of the pioneers during the National Day holiday.

"The northwestern part of Yunnan, Lijiang and Shangri-La, was expected to be crowded with people from all over the world, and we decided to choose a relatively relaxing trip to, Xishuangbanna and Laos," Wang said.

On Oct 1, Wang drove his rented car to the south of Yunnan and entered Laotian territory after obtaining the necessary permits. He said the expressway was comfortable to drive on, while he and his girlfriend enjoyed the beauty of forests and flowers in Laos. On returning home, the accountant strongly recommended the trip to his friends.