Most Asian countries (probably even all) and that will most certainly include China, currently have or will have, an insurance requirement when they first reopen. It isn't just Thailand. Cambodia has such a requirement (the Thai requirement will be lowered to US$50000 coverage starting November 1, down from the present US$100000), so does Singapore, where the coverage required is just S$30000 (strange for such an expensive country that the limit is lower than in Thailand and Cambodia).

In any case, insurance requirements alone won't deter too many people. Chinese, Thais etc. have required insurance to get a European Schengen visa for touristic purposes for years.

For me it's the vaccination and testing requirements that will put me off travel for the foreseeable future. Not to mention the likely imposition of a short quarantine period (probably for one night). I can totally see the authorities waiting for travelers at the destination station and bringing them to their pre-booked accommodation where they will be tested and they will have to wait until negative results are obtained. I'm sure this will be the system when borders first re-open. After a few months, they'll probably scrap this and revert back to a more normal entry scheme.

Any word on whether the train will carry passengers into Laos? Haven't heard either Laos or China agreeing to lift quarantine anytime soon, and parts of Laos are still under lockdown (for example Luang Prabang).

I don't see that changing in just 6 weeks from now.

I've heard people say that the train will only be for freight at the beginning. Now it appears that passengers will be allowed aboard but I suspect ONLY for the domestic component on either side of the border. If you're coming from Kunming, I'd imagine you would have to alight at either Mengla or Mohan station, with only freight permitted to cross the border for the time being.

I anticipate full service to begin sometime in 2022, as land borders reopen. Since Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and even Myanmar have announced tentative reopening schedules, I suspect Laos will be under pressure to reopen around the same time and the same can be said for China (despite previously stating that the country won't reopen before mid-2022). China may have to abandon it's current "zero Covid" policy for that to happen though.

According to the Bangkok Post, the Thai-Lao land border should reopen starting on January 15, 2022, but I expect it will involve much more than just arriving with your passport and visa like before Covid. I can't see China having any looser requirements in place.

In fact, I'd imagine that a passenger getting on this train will need to be fully vaccinated and may also need a negative Covid test. Once the Lao-China border re-opens, both of these requirements (or at least vaccination alone) will be mandatory, certainly at the beginning.

JR305, I totally understand your sentiment. I left China a few years ago, although I have continued visiting regularly for business, up until not too long before Covid.

I remember seeing the signs posted on Chinese businesses refusing entry to foreigners, especially people of African descent in the early days of Covid. Such stories went viral on the Shanghaiist and other foreign media. Although these signs seemed to disappear after around the middle of 2020, I think the writing was definitely already on the wall.

I'll always be fond of China, especially Kunming and rural areas of Yunnan, which I'm most familiar with. That being said, although I have some great friends there, most of whom are locals, I find it can be a lonely place to be, if you're staying long-term. Most foreigners come and go. Few remain long-term, other than those married to locals and who own businesses such as restaurants and bars.

Chinese apartments can be nice, but what would be nicer is a big house with a large yard, something that is almost impossible to find in any Chinese city, where 99% of people now live in some sort of apartment and the 1% well to do in a townhouse that is kind of a glorified apartment.

While I haven't faced what you have when I was living in China, I did experience some minor cases of racism here and there. This was especially apparent when I was with another Chinese or Asian woman similar or younger in age to me. One time in Yuxi, south of Kunming, my female Chinese friend was called a whore by a jealous local dude. Even though I felt like hitting the guy, I don't think that would have been a good idea!

I was also verbally abused by an elderly Chinese couple once in a Kunming shopping mall back around 2011.

Other than that, I get the feeling that a lot of locals look down on us as simply being English teachers with few other skills. In nearly every interaction I've had with Chinese, I was stereotyped as an English teacher even though I'm not.

Although there are certain complaints made by expats living in SE Asia that are similar; for the most part, experiences are much more positive than those of China. There are more foreigners in SE Asia, English is more widely spoken and a lot of things look more familiar to us than what we'll find in China.

Going forward, I'd love to visit China again once the borders reopen. I'll gladly visit once or twice a year. I don't know if I'd want to live there again though, even though there are some charming aspects of life that I miss. I love the western cafes like A slice of heaven and the French cafe and similar ones in places like Dali, Lijiang and Shangri-la. The backpacker hostels are quite luxurious and their proprietors very nice people. I don't stay in such places anywhere else but China. The landscapes are fabulous and the diversity and richness of the food is almost unparalleled anywhere.

In other words, China is fantastic for travel and short-term business, but not that great as a place to live.

@livinginchina, that occurred to me long ago. Covid is the perfect excuse for governments to keep populations under their grip. Indeed, many countries' GDP is based largely on tourism such as the Maldives. Although they're kind of open, when you have quarantine in the reverse direction (as many places impose on returnees from there) the tourism industry can't be sustained and the entire economy is at stake.

While China doesn't have that problem and it's domestic tourism industry, though large, is mainly made up of domestic visitors, being a hermit kingdom isn't going to do any country any good.

In a globalized community, we need the whole world to go back to normal, not just a few countries (such as Denmark).

Exactly. I just hope the good times return soon. Seeing happy Chinese tourists traveling all over Asia and the world, and vice versa is how I want things to be like again. Splashing their money around.

I think maybe that will start to occur again during the second half of 2022 if China eases off it's "zero Covid" policy, which is shared by Australia and New Zealand. Then by 2023, things might finally start to look pretty normal again.