The route
The international service runs Vientiane → Vang Vieng → Luang Prabang → Boten, crosses into China at Mohan, and continues through Xishuangbanna (Mohan–Jinghong–Pu'er) to Kunming. End to end it is roughly a 10-hour day including the border stop. China runs one hour ahead of Laos; arrival times are printed in local time.
The border crossing
This is the part that surprises people. The train stops twice:
Boten (Laos exit). Everyone off the train with all luggage. Lao exit stamps, then reboard.
Mohan (China entry). Everyone off again. Chinese immigration, customs, and bag screening. Reboard when cleared.
Budget 1.5 to 2 hours across the two stops. You need a valid Chinese visa or eligibility for China's visa-free entry — check your nationality's current status well before travel, because the train is not the place to discover a visa problem.
Why through-tickets are hard to book
The international ticket is sold through the official LCR and China Railway channels, with the same short booking window and the same friction that applies to every ticket on this line — compounded, because a single daily train carries all the cross-border demand. Seats go quickly and there is no meaningful standby option.
The realistic way to book it today
Naga Rail does not yet sell the through-ticket. We won't pretend otherwise, and we won't attach a guarantee to something we don't control end to end. What we can do today:
Book the Lao leg with us — Vientiane to Boten — with our standard guaranteed seat. Cross at Boten–Mohan, then take a Chinese domestic train from Mohan onward to Kunming, booked through China Railway's official 12306 channels. It splits one hard booking problem into two manageable ones, and the leg most likely to sell out — the Lao leg — is the one we guarantee.
Through-ticket support is on our roadmap. When we can guarantee it, we'll sell it. Not before.