Friendship Pass

21°58′35″N 106°42′44″E / 21.97639°N 106.71222°E / 21.97639; 106.71222

Friendship Pass
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese友誼關
Simplified Chinese友谊关
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinYǒuyì Guān
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationYáuh Yìh Gwāan
JyutpingJau5 Ji4 Gwaan1
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabetHữu Nghị Quan
Nam Quan
Chữ Hán友誼關
南關
People's Liberation Army troops entered Friendship Pass on 11 December 1949.
Marshal Su Yuanchun and his entourage passing through the since-removed outer gatehouse on 16 July 1900.

Friendship Pass (traditional Chinese: 友誼關; simplified Chinese: 友谊关; Vietnamese: Hữu Nghị Quan), also commonly known by its older name Ải Nam Quan (traditional Chinese: 隘南關; simplified Chinese: 隘南关), is a pass near the China-Vietnam border, between China's Guangxi and Vietnam's Lạng Sơn province. The pass itself lies just inside the Chinese side of the border.[1][2]

Vietnamese National Route 1 starts at the border near this pass, which lies less than 5 km north of the town of Đồng Đăng in Lạng Sơn province, ending in Năm Căn in Cà Mau province. China National Highway 322 runs from here to Guangxi province and Hunan province. This is one of the busiest border trading points of Vietnam.

It was built in the early Ming dynasty with the name of "South Suppressing Pass" (traditional Chinese: 鎮南關; simplified Chinese: 镇南关; Vietnamese: Trấn Nam Quan). In 1953, its name was changed to "South Harmonious Pass" (traditional Chinese: 睦南關; simplified Chinese: 睦南关; Vietnamese: Mục Nam Quan). In 1965, its name was changed again to the current Friendship Pass, reflecting the close political, military, and economic ties between the People's Republic of China and North Vietnam during the then-ongoing Vietnam War.

  1. ^ "Han Nam Quan 3(English)". Archived from the original on 31 August 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  2. ^ "In Westminster, an Internet Bid to Restore Viet Land". Los Angeles Times. 30 June 2002. Retrieved 27 June 2015.