Buy the Nanning–Hanoi international train at a designated window

Take each passenger’s valid original passport to Nanning Station’s international-ticket window: 12306 lists window 1, 06:00–22:30. Ask for the Nanning–Gia Lam international ticket, T8701/MR2. If you are already in Guilin, its listed alternative is Guilin North Station, window 8, 08:00–18:00, which can sell this Nanning-origin journey. These are published service hours, not confirmation that a berth is available for your date. 12306 international-ticket directory

This answers a foreign traveller who cannot issue the Nanning–Hanoi ticket online. The physical international-sales route is the actionable default. An empty ordinary 12306 search does not establish that the train is cancelled, and repeatedly changing app settings does not secure an international berth.

Go to the right station with a complete request

Use 南宁站 (Nanning Station), not 南宁东站 (Nanning East). Look for the ticket office, then the international-sales window. For the Guilin alternative, use 桂林北站 (Guilin North), not a generic “Guilin” destination.

Bring:

• Every traveller’s original passport, plus the entry documents applicable to their actual Vietnam journey. Do not rely on a passport photo on your phone as the window’s required document.
• A written travel date in YYYY-MM-DD, passenger count and the destination 越南河内嘉林 / Gia Lam, Hanoi.
• RMB cash sufficient for the quoted fare, with another payment method as a backup. The general 12306 window-payment guidance includes cash and certain bank cards; it does not guarantee an overseas Visa/Mastercard or foreign-card mobile-wallet transaction at this international window. Official window-payment guidance

The directory’s reference fare is RMB 215 from Nanning to Gia Lam, with no station-window handling fee. Confirm the current total for all passengers before paying. Allow extra funds rather than arriving with exactly an old quoted amount. 12306 fare and sales notes

Show at the ticket office:

我要买 ______ 年 ______ 月 ______ 日，南宁到越南河内嘉林的 T8701/MR2 国际联运车票，共 ______ 人。这里是所有乘车人的护照。

请确认当天是否开行、是否已经起售、有没有卧铺，以及总票价。我可以用人民币现金支付。

请开到“嘉林”的国际票，不是只到凭祥的国内票。

I want ___ tickets for Nanning to Gia Lam, Hanoi, on ____, T8701/MR2. Here are the passenger passports. Please check whether that date is operating and on sale, whether berths remain, and the total fare. I can pay in RMB cash. Please issue the international journey to Gia Lam, not only a domestic ticket to Pingxiang.

Go early in your stay in Nanning rather than just before departure. If window 1 is closed or reassigned, show this card at the staffed ticket-office service desk and request the current international-sales window. Do not join a domestic-ticket machine queue for this task.

Leave the window with the ticket, not just a verbal promise

Before leaving, match the passenger details to the passports and check the travel date, Nanning → Gia Lam, train and berth. Retain every ticket/document issued and the payment receipt.

Have the clerk point out the departure time, the required station-arrival time and the international waiting/check-in location. Ask which time zone applies to the arrival shown on the ticket. This matters because a table expressed entirely in Beijing time and a Vietnam-local timetable can show different clocks for the same arrival. Do not copy an old online arrival time into a tight onward connection.

Also record where to handle a change or refund and its deadline. Do not assume the ordinary domestic-app change/refund flow covers this international ticket.

If the window cannot issue your ticket

Ask which of these has happened, then take the matching next step:

For a special trip to the window or a date-critical plan, the directory lists 0771-12306. Use it to ask about the named international-sales window and dated service; this page does not claim the number issues a ticket by phone.

Failure card:

请告诉我是未起售、已售完、停运，还是证件或支付有问题？如果未起售，请写下起售日期和时间；如果已售完，请查下一班可买的日期。如果窗口调整了，请告诉我现在的国际售票窗口在哪里。

Please tell me whether sales have not opened, it is sold out, the train is suspended, or there is a document/payment issue. If not yet on sale, please write the release date and time; if sold out, please check the next available departure. If the window moved, where is international ticketing now?

If no train option fits, keep your bags and stay arrangements under control while arranging another confirmed way to Hanoi. A flight or licensed coach must itself have a ticket, usable departure point and entry documents; do not travel to Pingxiang with only an unconfirmed onward plan. This page does not verify a particular substitute operator, departure or fare.

The border and return-to-China boundary

The journey involves Pingxiang in China and Dong Dang in Vietnam. Railway guidance requires border formalities; a ticket does not grant entry. 12306 international route and travel conditions

The original itinerary was Macao → mainland China → Vietnam for about a month → mainland China → Hong Kong. That contains a second mainland entry. Do not infer permission for it from the first entry or from owning a return train ticket. The correct Vietnam document for the railway crossing, your permitted stay and your next mainland-entry basis depend on your passport and trip details. Resolve those before committing to dates. This page does not make a nationality-specific visa ruling or promise that printing an e-visa makes it valid at every crossing.

The railway’s 2025 reopening information and later 2026 reporting support that the service resumed, but neither proves operation or berths on your selected date. The endpoint of this task is a correctly issued dated international ticket and usable travel documents. Official pages checked 8 September 2026; no live sale or border crossing was tested.