A temporary passport to success

Cross-border tourism is booming as travelers from China and further afield take advantage of special policies designed to facilitate short visits to Vietnam. Huo Yan and Wang Xiaodong report from Fangchenggang, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

When Ma Zhi, an ardent travel fan from Beijing, and some friends planned a short visit to the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region in January, they didn't imagine it would include a one-day trip to a foreign country. "A local taxi driver told us that if we had our ID cards we could make a short visit to Vietnam, so we are here to try," Ma said, as he and a group of friends waited to fill out the relevant forms at a tourist service center in Dongxing, a county-level city administered by the port city of Fangchenggang.

The officials told us we can get the permits within three hours of submitting the form," he added, saying the group hadn't brought passports because they hadn't planned to leave the country.