The Blue Dream Melody departed at around 3 p.m. on June 15 from Beihai, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. On its first trip back to Ha Long after a long hiatus, the ship brought nearly 1,200 tourists.
The ship will anchor in Ha Long Bay until 6:00 p.m. the same day for tourists to visit Ha Long Bay and Ha Long City as well as some other famous tourist destinations in Quang Ninh.
The second train is expected to return on November 18, 2024. It is known that there are about 9 trains registered to run the Bac Hai - Ha Long route in 2025. During the peak period in November 2025, there will be 3 Bac Hai - Ha Long passenger trains per week.
According to the Department of Tourism of Quang Ninh province, the reopening of the Bac Hai - Ha Long cruise route is the result of efforts by authorities at all levels, departments, branches, and relevant units of the two countries.
In addition to maintaining Chinese visitors, the two sides are continuing to coordinate to attract visitors from Vietnam to visit China on this journey to increase connectivity as well as exploit the efficiency of each train trip.
The two sides also discussed designing a more diverse travel itinerary for visitors from China to Vietnam departing from Beihai City in 2025. Not only stopping at Ha Long and visiting Quang Ninh, the itinerary will be longer so that visitors have more time to explore the beauty of other famous tourist destinations in Vietnam such as Da Nang and Hue.
The reopening of the Beihai - Ha Long Bay cruise route is a proposal by the Department of Culture and Tourism of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to further promote tourism development cooperation between the two sides.
The Bac Hai - Ha Long Bay cruise route was once bustling for 10 years, starting in 1998. However, this route later stopped operating for many reasons; including epidemics such as H5N1, which caused operations to be interrupted.
