（InKunming Lexi）On the morning of May 17th, as all border inspection channels were fully operational, the entry hall of Yunnan's Mohan Port was bustling with people. "This is my third visit to China, but visa exemption made it much more convenient than before this time! China has many beautiful scenic spots, and I hope to visit China for tourism every year!" said a Thai tourist. According to statistics from the Mohan Border Checkpoint, since the beginning of this year, the checkpoint has cleared 2,380 tour groups for entry and exit, totaling 31,763 people, representing an increase of 1,406% and 919% respectively compared to last year; the highest number of tour groups cleared for entry and exit in a single day has exceeded 60, totaling over 1,200 individuals.

"The favorable policies have led to a 'two-way street'," said a person in charge of the Mohan Border Inspection Station. Following the mutual visa exemption agreement between China and Thailand, the enthusiasm of Thai tourists traveling to China has surged. Chinese tourism products, such as cultural and folk tours, have become increasingly popular among Thai tourists. The number of tourists entering Thailand has skyrocketed, accounting for about 40% of the third-country passengers entering and exiting the border through the port.

Qin Yong, a tour guide from Yunnan Ganglong Travel Agency, has been in the tourism industry for 15 years. Since the beginning of this year, he has hardly had a day off, working overtime continuously. "Since April this year, whether it is Thai groups entering China or Chinese groups exiting to Thailand, the market has been very hot. My number of groups has increased from two or three a month to five or six, and basically all the leaders in our company have been fully scheduled," stated Qin Yong. 

As China's opening-up accelerates, cross-border tourism has become an important channel and method for promoting cultural exchanges and people-to-people connections between countries. Given that this year is Laos' "Tourism Year" and the Lao government has introduced a series of tourism facilitation policies, a large number of Chinese tourists have been attracted to travel to Laos, marking a peak of outbound tourist groups at Yunnan's Mohan Road Port.

"Since the Mohan Road Port restored border tourism between China and Laos last September, more and more tourists from all over the country have been exiting the border through Mohan. The highest number of border tourism groups cleared for exit in a single day has reached over 50, accounting for 900 individuals," said Nie Lifei, a police officer at the Mohan Border Checkpoint. Up till May 17th of this year, a total of 912 border tourism groups, accounting for 11,989 individuals, had exited through the Mohan Road Port for tourism.

Since the beginning of this year, there has been a substantial increase in third-country passengers entering and exiting through both the Mohan Road and Railway Ports. As of May 17th, the Mohan Border Checkpoint had cleared over 20,000 entry and exit personnel from 78 different countries, excluding China and Laos, representing an increase of 56% and 378% respectively compared to the same period last year. Of these, about 49% of the entry and exit personnel were for tourism purposes, an increase of 458% over the previous year.

5月17日上午，云南磨憨口岸入境大厅人头攒动，所有边检查验通道全部打开。“这是我第三次来中国了，但是这次免签，比以前方便多了！中国有很多很美的景点，我希望每年都能来中国旅游一次！”一名泰国游客说。据磨憨边检站统计，今年以来，该站共验放出入境旅游团2380团、31763人次，同比分别增长1406%、919%；单日验放出入境旅游团最多达60余团、1200余人次。

“政策利好带来‘双向奔赴’。”磨憨出入境边防检查站有关负责人介绍，中泰互免签证后，泰国游客赴中国旅游的热情高涨，文化游、民俗游等中国旅游产品受到越来越多泰国游客追捧，入境泰国团人数大幅度增长，约占到口岸第三国出入境人数的40%左右。

云南港龙旅行社导游秦永从事旅游业已有15年。今年以来，他几乎一天都没休息过，一直处于超负荷工作状态。秦永说：“今年4月以后，不论是泰国团入境中国游，还是中国团出境泰国游，市场都很火爆。我每个月的团从以前的二三个增加到五六个，公司基本上所有领队的业务都排得很满。”

随着我国对外开放脚步不断加快，出入境旅游已成为促进各国文化交流、民众往来的重要渠道和方式，加之今年是老挝的“旅游年”，老挝政府出台了一系列旅游便利政策，也吸引了大量中国游客前往老挝旅游，云南磨憨公路口岸迎来边境旅游团出境高峰。

磨憨边检站民警聂利飞说：“自去年9月，磨憨公路口岸恢复中老边境旅游以来，越来越多来自全国各地的游客从磨憨出境旅游，单日验放出境边境旅游团最高就达50余团900余人次。”今年截至5月17日，已经有912个边境游旅游团、11989人次从磨憨公路口岸出境旅游。

今年以来，磨憨公路口岸、铁路口岸出入境第三国旅客大幅度增长，截至5月17日，除中国和老挝外，磨憨边检站共计验放来自78个国家的出入境人员超2万人次，同比分别增长56%和378%，其中出入境事由为旅游的人员占比约49%，同比增长458%。（中文稿件来源：昆明日报 记者吴洁 通讯员黄远飞 雷雨 张雨晨）