train from HK to Hanoi

I'm getting close to having to get hold of a chinese visa for my travels and have a bit of dilema. I want to travel by train to Hanoi but having just spoke with my cousin who had problems travelling into China I'm now thinking the hassle could be far too much. I don't want to spend time in China. I just want to not fly. I can't book tickets from the UK on the train which means I can't show the chinese embassy any sign of me entering or leaving which I think is the issue.
Any help would be much appreciated.

phil

I don't understand? You say you don't want to fly to Hanoi, but how did you get to China? I understand the Chinese visa is quite hard to get these days. The train into Hanoi does not originate in HK - it comes from Beijing, and I don't believe it even stops in HK. See seat61.com for all international train info.

I'm flying to HK and then want to travel by train to Hanoi, which means I enter China! I know the train doesn't originate in HK that's why I would have to get to Nanning. My concern is the whole Chinese Visa and it's stipulations that have been put in place. I wanted to know whether anyone has recently done this excursion via train and if so how they went about getting the visa when you can't book the train from outside HK/China, thus showing no proof of onward travel.

we all have that same problem...
But TRY applying for the L visa tomorrow.

I wanna go to Macau from Southeast Asia.
I made my exit through train (Nanning to Hanoi) last May.

Philter;
The visa situation should clear up considerably after the National day holidays (10/01- 10-5 or so), or at least what the media over here is saying. Read a local article on it earlier this week.
T.

Quoting Blueslide

Philter;
The visa situation should clear up considerably after the National day holidays (10/01- 10-5 or so), or at least what the media over here is saying. Read a local article on it earlier this week.
T.

what, I thought it clears on the 19th...

hi,
the best way is flying from HK to Hanoi.

what airlines should i be looking at the fly from HK to Hanoi? I have been thinking that I could get on a organised travel trip in china, so they can take care of the visa situation. And if I end up in Beijing I can then get the train to Hanoi, as you can book that from the uk.

Hi, Check the HongKong airlines, cathay pacific, or Vietnam air lines, but you'd book your ticket from departure place the price is chearper than anywhere.