Bananas to be loaded on the first banana train heading to China via the China-Laos Railway are seen in Vientiane, Laos, on Dec. 6, 2022. A special freight train carrying 25 cold-chain containers loaded with 500 tons of fresh Lao bananas departed from the Vientiane station in Lao capital on Wednesday. The train will travel all the way north across mountains and rivers along the China-Laos Railway to Changsha, capital of southern China's Hunan Province. This is the first "banana train" that travels directly to a specific Chinese city since the China-Laos Railway was put into operation a year ago. [Photo by Kaikeo Saiyasane/Xinhua]