Calling themselves old backpackers, 10 seniors embarked on a 20-day tour by train, travelling more than 2,000 km from Seremban to Beijing.

Retired teacher Toh Hon Leong, 78, led the group, who are all over 60-years of age, started the rail trip from Seremban train station to visit Thailand, Laos and entered China.

Along the way, they paused in towns and cities including Hat Yai, Bangkok, Nong Khai, Vientiane, Luang Prabang, Boten, Kunming, Anshun, Guiyang, Zhengzhou, Luoyang, Pingyao, Datong and finally Beijing.

They described the rail trip as a brave “northbound journey”, one that many people dream about when they are young but seldom have the chance to begin.

At present, there is a freight rail service called the ASEAN Express that links Malaysia to China, passing through Thailand and Laos.

This service is currently for cargo, not for regular passenger travel.

For years, this overland railway adventure felt like wishful thinking—until the China–Laos Railway opened in 2021, linking three countries and turning fantasy into possibility.

The seniors seized their chance to embark on a transnational train journey.

Tour leader Toh described the 20-day cross-border rail journey as “a tribute to freedom and to life itself”.

It was not only a test of physical stamina, he said, but also a way of proving to themselves that dreams do not come with an expiry date.

“We set out with one simple belief,” he said. “We’re not afraid of being laughed at, and we don’t care how others look at us. We treated this journey as our own path to feeling young again.”

“Whether we set off or came home, our hearts were pounding with excitement. It made us feel young all over again,” he said.

The train became their loyal “steed”, fuelled by their curiosity and courage.

Through windows, they watched rice fields, mountains, ancient towns and busy cities roll past like scenes from a slow-moving film.

 At every destination, they immersed themselves in local life—breathing in the scent of night markets, admiring temple silhouettes, wandering narrow alleys, and leaving footprints in historic landscapes. Yet even with all the beauty they encountered, the memory they cherish most is their nightly “moving hotel”: the simple comfort of a sleeper berth rocking gently through the dark.

Crossing borders from Malaysia into Thailand and Laos proved more tedious, with lengthy immigration procedures. But entering China—visa-free—was surprisingly smooth.

They were quickly impressed by China’s vast, efficient railway network, where routes were easy to navigate and high-speed trains zipped across provinces in the blink of an eye.

The ride from Huaihua to Zhengzhou took just four hours across a thousand kilometres—“as if time had reversed”, they remarked.

What touched them most deeply was witnessing the harmony of ancient and modern China.

From the merchant heritage of Pingyao’s old town to the serene thousand Buddhas of the Yungang Grottoes; from the grandeur of the Great Wall to the pagodas, ancestral halls, food streets and stone alleyways of historic cities—each step made them feel how time slips quietly by, leaving memories that would live forever in their hearts.