The Hekou Yao Autonomous County () is an

autonomous county Autonomous counties () and autonomous banners () are Counties of China, county-level autonomous administrative divisions of China. Autonomous counties tend to have a large number of ethnic minority citizens compared to ordinary counties (if not ...

in the southern part of the

Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

province of China. It is part of the

Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture ( zh, s=红河哈尼族彝族自治州, t=紅河哈尼族彝族自治州, p=Hónghé Hānízú Yízú Zìzhìzhōu; Hani language, Hani: ; Yi script, Yi: ꉼꉸꉳꆃꁈꆃꁈꊨꏦꍓ) is an auto ...

and borders the northern

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

ese city of

Lào Cai Lào Cai () is a city in the Northwest region of Vietnam. It is the capital of Lào Cai Province. The city borders Bảo Thắng District, Bát Xát District, Sa Pa and the city of Hekou Yao Autonomous County, in Yunnan province of southwe ...

Geography

Hekou County is located in the southeast of Honghe Prefecture in southeastern Yunnan. It borders Pingbian Miao Autonomous County,

Maguan County Maguan County (, ) is located in Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan province, China, bordering Vietnam's Lào Cai and Ha Giang provinces to the south. Geography Maguan County is located in the southwest of Wenshan Prefecture, ...

and

Gejiu Gejiu () (, ; Hani: ''Goqjef''; formerly known as Kochiu) is a county-level city in Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China, with 202,000 urban inhabitants (ranked 14th largest city in Yunnan). It is the site of China's la ...

to the north,

Jinping Miao, Yao, and Dai Autonomous County Jinping Miao, Yao, and Dai Autonomous County () is located in Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan province, China, bordering Vietnam's Lai Châu Province to the south and Lào Cai Province to the southeast. Jinping is home to the R ...

to the west, and Lào Cai Province,

to the south and east. the Districts of Lào Cai Province that border Hekou County are Bat Xat District, Bao Thang District, Muong Khuong District and

Administrative divisions

At present, Hekou Yao Autonomous County has 2 towns, 3 townships and 1 ethnic township. ;2 towns * Hekou () * Nanxi () ;3 townships * Laofanzhai () * Yaoshan () * Lianhuatan () ;1 ethnic township *

Qiaotou Miao and Zhuang Ethnic Township Qiaotou (Chinese: t , s , ''Qiáotóu'', lit. "Bridgehead") may refer to the following places: Mainland China ;Towns *Qiaotou, Dongguan, Guangdong *Qiaotou, Yongjia County, Zhejiang *Hutiaoxia Town, formerly Qiaotou, Shang ...

()

Ethnic groups

The ''Hekou County Gazetteer'' (1994) lists the following ethnic groups. *Yao **Hongtou Yao 红头谣 (autonyms: Mian 棉, Meng 孟, Dongban Heiyou 洞斑黑尤, meaning "Yao person") **Landian Yao 兰綻瑶 (autonyms: Xiu 秀, Xiumen 秀门, Men 门, Houmen 喉闷) **White Yao 白线瑶 (autonyms: Heiyou Meng 黑尤蒙, Gengmen 耿闷, Jingdi Men 敬底闷, meaning Mountain Top Yao person 山上瑶人 **Sha Yao 沙瑶 (autonyms: Heiyou Meng 黑尤蒙, Gengwan Men 耿晚闷, meaning Mountain Bottom Yao person 山底瑶人 *Zhuang *Miao *Yi *Dai *Buyi *Han

Languages

A dialect of

Yue Chinese Yue () is a branch of the Sinitic languages primarily spoken in Northern and southern China, Southern China, particularly in the provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi (collectively known as Liangguang). The term Cantonese is often used to refer ...

(Chinese: 河口廣話) is spoken in Hekou County.

Climate

Industrial Park

Hekou Border Economic Cooperation Zone Hekou Border Economic Cooperation Zone (HKBECZ) is a Chinese State Council-approved Industrial Park based in Hekou County, Honghe Prefecture, Yunnan, China, founded in 1993 and was established to promote trade between China and Vietnam. Transport ...

First established in 1992, Hekou Border Economic Cooperation Zone is a border zone approved by State Council in China to promote trade between China and Vietnam. It has a planned area of 4.02 square kilometers. The zone implemented several policies to serve its clients in China from various industries and sectors including investment, trade, finance, taxation, immigration, etc.

Transport

There are bus route to all destinations within Yunnan, including an overnight sleeper service from Kunming. More destinations can be reached by transfer in Mengzi.

Highway

There is a highway linking Xinjie, a town in Hekou County, with Lào Cai Province in northern Vietnam. It opened in February 2008 and marked the completion of the first highway linking Yunnan with a neighboring country from the

Association of Southeast Asian Nations The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, commonly abbreviated as ASEAN, is a regional grouping of 10 Sovereign state, states in Southeast Asia "that aims to promote economic and security cooperation among its ten members." Together, its ...

(ASEAN). The 56.3 kilometer, 3.58 billion yuan Xinhe highway is one of the numerous infrastructure projects that will increase connectivity between Yunnan and ASEAN and facilitate the transport of people and goods between the two regions, which are expecting to see a major increase in tourism and trade in the coming years.

Railway

The narrow-gauge Yunnan–Vietnam Railway, connecting

Kunming Kunming is the capital and largest city of the province of Yunnan in China. The political, economic, communications and cultural centre of the province, Kunming is also the seat of the provincial government. During World War II, Kunming was a Ch ...

with the port of

Haiphong Haiphong or Hai Phong (, ) is the third-largest city in Vietnam and is the principal port city of the Red River Delta. The municipality has an area of , consisting of 8 urban districts, 6 rural districts and 1 municipal city (sub-city). Two o ...

, opened by the French in 1910, crosses the China-Vietnam border in Hekou. In December 2014, the last section ( Mengzi–Hekou) of the new standard-gauge Kunming-Hekou Railway was completed. It ends at the new

Hekou North Railway Station Hekou North railway station () is a railway station in Hekou Town, the county seat of Hekou Yao Autonomous County in Yunnan Province of China. It is the southern end of the standard-gauge Kunming–Yuxi–Hekou Railway. It also is connected by m ...

, which is also connected by narrow-gauge tracks to the old railway, in order to facilitate cargo movement between China and Vietnam. Border crossing at Lao Cai

On 20 February 2025 the Vietnamese parliament approved an $8 billion railroad investment to upgrade under

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping, pronounced (born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has been the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China), chairman of the Central Military Commission ...

Belt and road initiative The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI or B&R), known in China as the One Belt One Road and sometimes referred to as the New Silk Road, is a global infrastructure development strategy adopted by the government of China in 2013 to invest in more t ...

the old French-built

Kunming–Haiphong railway The Yunnan–Haiphong railway (; ; , "Indo-China–Yunnan Railroad") is an railway built by France from 1904 to 1910, connecting Haiphong, Vietnam, with Kunming, Yunnan province, China. The section within China from Kunming to Hekou is known a ...

, which serves the Chinese border city Hekou Yao, Lao Cai,

Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

and

References

External links

Hekou County Official WebsiteGMS Cross-Border Transport Agreement
- Asian Development Bank {{authority control China–Vietnam border crossings County-level divisions of Honghe Prefecture Yao autonomous counties