Table of Contents
Map of Railways
The railways in red & orange are high speed rails (for D or G trains) and the green lines are regular rails for K, T, Z trains.
Nanning – Hanoi Train: T8701/T8702, MR1/MR2
Taking an international train is a popular way to travel between Nanning and Hanoi, and an unique experience as well. The international train service (T8701/T8702, MR1/MR2) between Nanning China and Hanoi Vietname run once a day using Nanning Railway Station and Gia Lam Station in Hanoi. The international train from Nanning to Hanoi (called T8701 from Nanning to Pingxiang in China section, and called MR2 from Dong Dang to Hanoi in Vietname section) leaves at around 18:20 from Nanning Railway Station, calls at Pingxiang Railway Station (凭祥站) at around 22:00, then finally terminates at Gia Lam Station in Hainoi at 05:20 of the following day, journey time 11 hours. From Hainoi to Nanning, the train T8702/MR1 leaves at 21:45 (Vietname Time) from Gia Lam Station, and arrives at Nanning Railway Station at 10:15 of the next day (Beijing Time) with a 2-3 hours stop at Pingxiang.
- Station used in Nanning: Nanning Railway Station (南宁站)
- Station used in Hanoi: Gia Lam Station (嘉林站)
- Train type used: 22B/25B
- Ticket fares (bought at window): 215 yuan/p or 178 yuan/p for group ticket.
- How to buy tickets
Nanning to Hanoi: Train Timetable, Price, Duration for T8701 /MR2
| 1st Cls (CNY/P) Bought at Window | 2nd Cls (CNY/P) Bought at Window | |||||||
| Train | Distance | Stations en Route | Arrival | Departure | General Ticket | Group Ticket (6+) | General Ticket | Group Ticket (6+) |
| T8701 | 0 | Nanning (南宁) | – | 18:22 | – | – | – | – |
| T8701 | 122 | Chongzuo (崇左) | 20:14 | 20:20 | – | – | – | – |
| T8701 | 220 | Pingxiang (凭祥) | 22:11 | 23:41 | – | – | – | – |
| MR2 | 238 | Dong Dang | 00:22 +1 | 1:22 +1 | 169 | 133 | 108 | 83 |
| MR2 | Bac Giang | 4:40 +1 | 4:43 +1 | 202 | 158 | 130 | 99 | |
| MR2 | 396 | Gia Lam (Hanoi) | 5:45 +1 | – | 215 | 168 | 139 | 107 |
Hanoi to Nanning: Train Timetable, Price, Duration for T8702 /MR1
| 1st Cls (CNY/P) Bought at Window | 2nd Cls (CNY/P) Bought at Window | |||||||
| Train | Distance (How far) | Stations en Route | Arrival | Departure | General Ticket | Group Ticket (6+) | General Ticket | Group Ticket (6+) |
| MR1 | 0 | Gia Lam (Hanoi) | – | 22:40 | – | – | – | – |
| MR1 | 122 | Bac Giang) | 23:39 | 23:42 | – | – | – | – |
| MR1 | 220 | Dong Dang | 3:00 +1 | 4:00 +1 | – | – | – | – |
| T8702 | 238 | Pingxiang (凭祥) | 4:41 +1 | 6:31 +1 | 169 | 133 | 108 | 83 |
| T8702 | Chongzuo (崇左) | 8:10 +1 | 8:16 +1 | 202 | 158 | 130 | 99 | |
| T8702 | 396 | Nanning (南宁) | 10:25 +1 | 215 | 168 | 139 | 107 | |
How to Buy Train Tickets
The train tickets can be classified as two types: Group tickets (>=6 passengers) & non-group tickets (less than 6).
1. Buy at Railway Station in Person
The international train tickets from Nanning to Hanoi can only be bought at Nanning Railway Station (Note that Nanning has several train stations) at the counter 1 with your valid passport and visa, which costs about 215 yuan or 178 yuan. Travellers can buy the paper rail tickets in person at the station or use an online agent. But please be noted that the international tickets are limited and sometimes hard to buy. It is said that (not quite sure) Nanning Railway Station only sells 47 tickets daily for Nanning to Hanoi train (10 tickets from Chongzuo to Hanoi only be bought at Chongzuo station & 13 tickets from Pingxiang to Hanoi only be bought at Pingxiang Station). So you’d better buy tickets early (tickets can be bought at station 18 days in advance).
2. Use an Online Ticket Agent
The most hassle-free way to buy your tickets is using a trustworthy online ticket agents, which may charge you a service fee at a price 25 dollar per ticket. Below is the trustworthy online agent for you:
China Highlights: http://www.chinahighlights.com/china-trains/
Nanning – Hanoi by Bus
Another popular way to travel from Nanning to Hainoi is using the long-distance bus. Currently, there are two bus stations in Nanning operating bus service to Hanoi: Nanning Langdong Bus Station and Nanning International Tourism Distribution Center. But the former one is more common for use as it provides more long-distance to Hanoi, and it also has buses to Haiphong.
Departure from Nanning Langdong Bus Station: 4 daily buses are available running from Nanning Langdong to Hanoi, which costs about 170 yuan and takes around 8 hours. Depature times include: 7:55, 8:30, 9:00, 10:00.
Departure from Nanning International Tourism Disttribution Center: 2 daily bus leaving at 8:00 and 8:20.
Onward Travel
Nanning to Guilin or Yangshuo: Guilin and Yangshuo are the two tourist destinations you should not miss during your travel in Guangxi Province. If you arrive at Nanning from Hanoi, you can continue your rail journey from Hanoi to Guillin or Yangshuo via Nanning by high speed trains directly. Just see the page: Nanning to Guilin & Yangshuo and understand rail travel in Guangxi.
Nanning to Guangzhou: After you take the train from Hanoi Vietnam to Nanning, you can switch to take a high speed train to Guangzhou (13 daily, 4.5 hrs, from RMB 172) at the same station.
Nanning to Fenghuang: You can take a train from Nanning to Jishou first, then a bus from Jishou to Fenghuang.
Trusted Online Ticket Agents:
Option 1: China Highlights is a reliable online agency for China train ticketing. They get positive reviews on TripAdvisor & Trustpilot. Sharon and her team help you buy tickets & plan rail routes even deliver tickets to your hotels with a service fee.
Option 2: Trip.com is an internatioal brand owned by Ctrip Group, China's largest online travel booking platform. Trip.com offers booking service for flight, train, hotel, activities, etc
I would like to go by bus from Nanning to Hanoi on 2017/10/17 at 8:30 from Lang Dong Bus Station. I am a German woman with a German passport, and I will stay in Vietnam for 14 days – so I do not need a visum for Vietnam according to my information. Is this ok and/or do I need anything more to pass the border to Vietnam? Thank you very much for your kind reply!! Regards, Monika
You wrote: “The most hassle-free way to buy your tickets is using a trustworthy online ticket agents, which may charge you a small service fee.” However, chinahighlights charges a service fee of 25 dollars per ticket!!! This is a HUGE service fee, how can you write “a small service fee”??? Perhaps you are employed by chinahighlights…
Thanks for your feedback.
I never thought the service fee is so high. They usually charge USD4-5 for a domestic train ticket. But the Nanning to Hanoi is international ticket, which is sometimes hard to get. So to some extent, it is reasonable they will set the price a bit higher.
However, 25 dollar is quite high, so I agree with you. I will change the information at once to let travelers know that.
Thanks again.
Hi There,
I’m looking to get two tickets from Nanning to Hanoi. I plan on going myself to the Nanning train station to buy them about 5 days ahead of time. Any idea how fast they sell out? Is there a risk I won’t be able to get them this far in advance?
Thanks!
Hi, it is hard to say whether it will be sold out quickly, because we can not check the ticket availability for international trains on the official http://www.12306.cn. You can turn up at the train station to buy the tickets. If it does sell out, you can consider travel by bus instead.
You may contact a train expert named Mark Smith on seat61.com, where He writes a lot of info on international train from Nanning to Hanoi. He will tell you when is the best time to buy the tickets.
Thanks! Any idea if I can get bus tickets online ahead of time, or if I need to go to the station/get them from a travel agent?
You will have to go to the bus station to buy the ticket on the travel date, or one or two day ahead. No a official bus booking site available.
Hi. I am planning on taking the Nanning to Ha Noi train. I will be going from Hong Kong to Nanning. Will the immigration control let me into Nanning to buy the ticket without the ticket to prove I’m leaving China within 24 hrs…?
Hi, sorry. I am not quite sure of your case. You may contact http://www.chinahighlights.com/china-trains/ for help.