21.   Until now, passengers have had to change trains at the southern cities of Shenzhen or Guangzhou before making the trip across the border.

22.   It will take ten hours to travel from Hanoi to Kunming and passengers will not have to change trains at the border gate, the official added.

23.   Passengers must change trains at dawn in Dang Dong as Vietnam and China use different rail guages.

24.   Passengers therefore had to change trains there, a SNCF spokesman said.