Boten

Understand

Boten is a rough and ready border town that's undergone a bit of a growth spurt. Not too many years ago there was a large casino with associated crime that was closed down under pressure from the Chinese government. After sitting idle for a few years there was an influx of Chinese workers and services for the construction of the railway and train station connecting Vientiane to Kunming in China. The railway was completed at the end of 2021 but the town is still more Chinese than Lao with all prices being in yuan with rates varying from place to place if you pay in Lao Kip.

Getting there

By train Boten is the northern terminus of the Lao side of Lao-China Railway from Vientiane and Luang Prabang. There are two trains, both leaving in the morning, traveling to the length of the line from Vientiane, taking about 3.5 hours. See Laos#Get in for details. The railway continues on the Chinese side from Mohan to Kunming via Jinghong and Pu'er. International trains stop here for 90 minutes for Lao immigration and customs, and you will need to alight the train with all your belongings to complete these. The border crossing between Laos and China at Boten and Mohan is also open to road traffic. It costs 60,000 kip or 20 RMB to take a shared taxi about 4km from the Boten Railway Station to the Boten border crossing. Expect waiting in line for over 30 minutes to get past immigration at the Boten border crossing. The Chinese border crossing at Mohan is several hundred meters away (for 5 RMB golf carts can take you a lousy few hundred meters between the border crossings). The Mohan border crossing is staffed by border personnel who ask non-citizen travelers a lot of additional questions so expect a delay of up to 2 hours.

By road There are direct cross-border services from Mengla in China via Mohan/Boten to Luang Namtha, the nearest major Lao town. Buses to/from Luang Namtha take about an hour.

Eat

Most food places are Chinese throughout town but there is an "integrated market" that is mostly Lao where a couple of places also have some Thai dishes but prices are still in Chinese Yuan first.

Drink & nightlife

There is a café with Wi-Fi called "Aishang Coffee" on perhaps the nicest street. Prices are good.

Sleep

Few places are listed on internet booking platforms. Binguans are cheaper than Jiudians. Prices seem to start at about 80 CNY for a big but warn room, and may include a washing machine. You can probably haggle if you're going to stay more than one night.