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Sino-Nepal Friendship Bridge नेपाल-चीन मितेरी पुल | |
---|---|
Bridge of Sino-Nepalese Friendship. Nepal is on the left, China on the right. | |
Coordinates | 27°58′24″N85°57′50″E / 27.973413°N 85.964012°E |
Carries | Motor vehicles, pedestrians and bicycles |
Crosses | Sun Kosi river |
Locale | Kodari, Sindhulpalchok District, ![]() Zhangmu, ![]() |
Official name | Sino-Nepal Friendship Bridge |
Characteristics | |
Design | Arc bridge (1964–2015) Girder bridge (from 2019) |
Material | Reinforced concrete |
Total length | 110 m (360 ft) |
Width | 8 m (26 ft) |
History | |
Construction start | 1962 |
Opened | 1964 |
Rebuilt | 2019 |
Location | |
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The Sino-Nepal Friendship Bridge (Chinese :中尼友谊桥; pinyin :Zhōng-Ní Yǒuyì Qiáo; Nepali : मितेरी पुल) is a bridge spanning the Sun Kosi river, linking Kodari in Sindhulpalchok District, Nepal, and Zhangmu, China.
Opened in 1964, the bridge was the only official border crossing between the two states until the 2010s. [1] [2] Depending on the source, it is 1,760 m (5,770 ft), 1,800 m (5,900 ft), or 2,100 m (6,900 ft) above sea level.[ citation needed ]
The reinforced concrete arch bridge, with a prestressed concrete deck girder on top, was around 8 m (26 ft) wide and 45 m (148 ft) long. [3]
It was badly damaged during the April 2015 earthquake and had to be demolished. The quakes closed the route and turned the border trading towns into ghost villages. In 2016, there were some repairs on the route, but trading had not been restored to previous levels. First, it was replaced by a temporary bridge. Chinese companies then built a new, reportedly 110 m (360 ft) long and significantly wider, twin-pier reinforced concrete girder bridge alongside it, which opened in June 2019. [4] [5]
From the bridge on the Nepalese side, Kodari in Sindhulpalchok District, the road bridge is connected to the Araniko Highway, named after the famous architect Arniko, which leads to the capital, Kathmandu. On the Chinese side, the structure is also the end point of the Nepal-China Friendship Highway. This is part of National Road 318 and leads via Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, to Shanghai.[ citation needed ]
The governments of both states have established a zone with legal and administrative facilitation for the entry and exchange of goods for the population living there within a radius of 30 km (19 mi) from the bridge. There is no visa requirement for this group of people. In addition, no customs duty is payable for a large number of goods manufactured in Nepal, especially for agricultural and handicraft products. From this, lively economic activity has developed in the vicinity of the bridge. Tibetan traders sell wool, salt, tea, and popular Tibetan medicinal products.
However, trade in goods of all kinds manufactured in other parts of China dominates. The goods arriving on trucks are usually unloaded in Zhangmu, the town closest to the bridge on the Chinese side, taken over the bridge, and loaded onto trucks from the destination country. This complex procedure is carried out for customs and other administrative reasons, and it is also due to the change in the side of the road (left-hand and right-hand traffic). In order to improve the sometimes chaotic processes on the Nepalese side, a new truck depot is being built with Chinese help near the town of Kodari.
Some of the goods are also offered for sale in the village itself. Many Tibetans rent the ground floor of their house to traders from other Chinese regions. Around 500 Nepalese cross the Friendship Bridge every day to sell their products or buy Chinese goods for their own use or for resale in their home country. In the opposite direction, around 250 Chinese cross the bridge every day.
Nepalese women carry the suitcases of package tourists entering China across the Sino-Nepalese Friendship Bridge.
In addition, numerous tourists cross the bridge, including mountaineers who want to climb Mount Everest from the Chinese side. Package tourists arriving from Kathmandu usually have to exit the bus in Nepal and walk across the bridge to continue with a Chinese company.
Upper Mustang is an upper part of Mustang District, which is located in Nepal. The Upper Mustang was a restricted kingdom until 1992 which makes it one of the most preserved regions in the world, with a majority of the population still speaking traditional Tibetic languages. Tibetan culture has been preserved by the relative isolation of the region from the outside world. Life in Mustang revolves around tourism, animal husbandry, and trade.
The Qinghai–Tibet railway or Qingzang railway, is a high-elevation railway line in China between Xining, Qinghai Province, and Lhasa, Tibet. With over 960 km (600 mi) of track being more than 4,000 m (13,123 ft) above sea level, it is the highest railway line in the world.
Nathu La(Tibetan: རྣ་ཐོས་ལ་, Wylie: Rna thos la, THL: Na tö la, Sikkimese: རྣ་ཐོས་ལ་) is a mountain pass in the Dongkya Range of the Himalayas between China's Yadong County in Tibet, and the Indian states of Sikkim. But minor touch of Bengal in South Asia. The pass, at 4,310 m (14,140 ft), connects the towns of Kalimpong and Gangtok to the villages and towns of the lower Chumbi Valley.
The Friendship Highway is an 800-kilometre (500 mi) scenic route connecting the capital of Tibet, Lhasa, with the Chinese/Nepalese border at the Sino-Nepal Friendship Bridge between Zhangmu and Kodari. It includes the westernmost part of China National Highway 318 (Shanghai-Zhangmu) and crosses three passes over 5,000 m (16,400 ft) before dropping to 1,750 m (5,700 ft) at the border.
Nyalam is a small town in and the county seat of Nyalam County in the Shigatse Prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous Region, near the Nepal border. It is 35 km from Zhangmu town in the same county, which is the point of entry to Nepal. Nyalam is situated at 3,750 metres (12,300 ft) above sea level.
Zhangmu or Dram in Tibetan, or Khasa in Nepali, is a customs town and port of entry located in Nyalam County in Tibet, China close to the Nepal-China border, just uphill and across the Bhotekoshi River from the Nepalese town of Kodari. At 2,300 metres (7,500 ft) above sea level, Zhangmu has a mild and humid subtropical climate, which is a rarity for Tibet.
The bilateral relations between Nepal and China are defined by the Sino-Nepalese Treaty of Peace and Friendship signed on April 28, 1960, by the two countries. Though initially unenthusiastic, Nepal has been of late making efforts to increase trade and connectivity with China. Relations between Nepal and China got a boost when both countries solved all border disputes along the China–Nepal border by signing the Sino-Nepal boundary agreement on March 21, 1960, making Nepal the first neighboring country of China to conclude a border treaty with China. The governments of both Nepal and China ratified the border treaty on October 5, 1961. From 1975 onward, Nepal has maintained a policy of balancing the competing influence of China and Nepal's southern neighbor India, the only two neighbors of the Himalayan country after the accession of the Kingdom of Sikkim into India in 1975.
China National Highway 318 (G318) runs from Shanghai to Zhangmu on the China-Nepal border. It is the longest China National Highway at 5,476 kilometres (3,403 mi) in length and runs west from Shanghai towards Zhejiang, Anhui, Hubei, Chongqing, Sichuan, and ends in Tibet Autonomous Region. From Lhasa to Zhangmu it is also called Friendship Highway. From Markam to Zogang it shares the highway with G214. At the Sino-Nepal Friendship Bridge, it connects with the 115 km long Araniko Highway to Kathmandu.
The Araniko Highway or NH 03 connects Kathmandu with Kodari, 112.83 kilometres (70.11 mi) northeast of the Kathmandu Valley, on the Nepal-China border. It is among the most dangerous of highways in Nepal due to extremely steep slopes on each side of the road from Barabise onwards; massive landslides and bus plunges are not uncommon, especially after rains. At the Sino-Nepal Friendship Bridge, it connects with China National Highway 318 to Lhasa, and eventually to Shanghai.
The Nepalese Chamber of Commerce, Lhasa opened in 1943, the first ever organization of businesses formed by Nepalese traders based in the Tibetan capital. The Newar merchants conducted trade between Lhasa and Kolkata transporting goods over the Himalaya by mule caravan. The chamber of commerce worked to promote trade and coordinated among its members to set uniform prices for their merchandise besides lobbying with the government for business-friendly policy.
The community of Nepalis in China consists of Nepalese immigrants and expatriates to China as well as Chinese citizens of Nepalese descent.
Lhasa Newar refers to the expatriate Newar traders and artisans who traveled between the Kathmandu Valley and Tibet from centuries ago. These Nepalese merchants conducted trade between Nepal, Tibet and Bengal, India over the Silk Road, and acted as a bridge for economic and cultural exchanges between South Asia and Central Asia.
Kodari is a small village located at the border with Tibet-China. The village is located at the end–point of the Arniko Highway, which connects Kodari with the capital city of Kathmandu. Kathmandu is 144 kilometres (89 mi) away from Kodari. Kodari is a major border crossing from Nepal into the Tibet Autonomous Region.
Hilsa is a village in the northwestern corner of Nepal bordering Tibet Autonomous Region (China), where the Humla Karnali crosses from the Tibetan Plateau into the mountain regions on its descent to the Ganges. Hilsa is in Humla District, Karnali Zone facing Burang County, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet region of China.
The China–Nepal border is the international boundary between the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China and Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal. It is 1,389 kilometres (863 mi) in length and runs in a northwest–southeast direction along the Himalayan mountain range, including Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain. The boundaries of this particular border have changed dramatically over time, especially when considering relatively recent events such as the Annexation of Tibet in 1949. However, some of the most significant developments of modern times would be the signing of the "Agreement on Maintaining Friendly Relations between the People’s Republic of China and the Kingdom of Nepal" in 1956 and the "Sino-Nepalese Treaty of Peace and Friendship" in 1960, both of which formally recognised Tibet as a part of China and confirmed the limits of the countries of China and Nepal as they are known today.
Korala or Kora La or Koro La {Nepali: (Nepali: कोरला]; literally Kora Pass} is a mountain pass between Tibet and Gandaki Province. At only 4,660 metres in elevation, it has been considered the lowest drivable path between Tibetan Plateau and the Indian subcontinent. It currently serves as a vehicle border crossing between China and Nepal. Korala in Mustang is the fourth border point that Beijing has reopened after the Rasuwa-Kerung, Tatopani-Khasa and Yari -Purang.
Kyirong or Gyirong , Jilong in Chinese and Kerung in Nepalese, is a town situated in the southern part of Gyirong County in the Tibet Autonomous Region, China. The town is situated on the east bank of Kyirong Tsangpo, a source stream of the Trishuli River, at an elevation of about 2,700 metres (8,900 ft). It has a subtropical mountain monsoon climate, with reasonable precipitation and warm weather, unusual for Tibet.
Rasuwa Fort or Rasuwa Gadhi is a historical fort ruin in the Rasuwa District of Nepal roughly at the border with Tibet, China. It is located along the Trishuli River 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) north of the Nepalese town of Timure in Langtang National Park, yet 25 km south of the nearest locality of China at Gyirong Town.
The China–Nepal Railway is a planned railway between China and Nepal. The railway will link Kathmandu with Shigatse, Tibet, crossing the China–Nepal border at Gyirong–Rasuwa.
The Tibet–Nepal salt trade route is an ancient salt trading route running between the Tibetan Plateau and the Middle Hills of Nepal and further on to India. After the annexation of Tibet by China in 1950 and the Sino-Indian War in 1962, patterns of trade changed and the use of the old trading route between India and Tibet dwindled and the salt-carrying caravans became redundant.