@Napoleon entering at Tianbao is the most convenient way to get to Hagiang from kunming (although the highway stops at wenshan).

the point of this thread is to inform people of my experience with the two new changes (new international border crossing at Malipo, Wenshan and Visa exempt travel to vietnam)

I entered Vietnam twice. The first time at the Tianbao crossing to go to Hagiang and I was visa exempt so they just stamped my passport. The second time a week later I entered at Hekou to go to Laocai but the Vietnamese customs officer saw that I had already entered vietnam a week earlier and I was told I'd have to pay this time for a sticker visa

sorry, i meant a sticker visa

while hiking on the outskirts of kunming, i saw a massive owl and near the burmese border a civet and huge beetles. Some snakes too