Bridge of Sino-Nepalese Friendship
Coordinates: 27 ° 58 '24 " N , 85 ° 57' 50" E
| Bridge of Sino-Nepalese Friendship | ||
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| Official name | Sino-Nepal Friendship Bridge | |
| use | Friendship Highway / Arniko Rajmarg (Arniko Highway) Nepal | |
| Crossing of | Sunkoshi | |
| place |
 People's Republic of China Zhangmu Nepal Kodari in Sindhulpalchok District
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| construction | Arch bridge with overhead track as a prestressed concrete bridge | |
| overall length | 45 m | |
| width | 8 m | |
| Clear height | open | |
| opening | 1964 | |
| toll | No | |
| location | ||
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| Above sea level | 1800 m | |
The Sino-Nepalese Friendship Bridge ( Chinese 中 尼 友谊 桥 , English Sino-Nepal Friendship Bridge ) is a bridge over the Sunkoshi River .
It connects the places Zhangmu ( Tibet , China ) and Kodari in the Sindhulpalchok district ( Nepal ) and is currently the only official border crossing between the two states. The pre-stressed concrete bridge , built as an arch bridge with an overhead track, is around 8 meters wide and 45 meters long.
Transport links
On the Nepalese side, the road bridge is connected to the Araniko Highway , which leads to the capital Kathmandu . On the Chinese side, the structure is also the end point of the Friendship Highway . This is part of the national road 318 and leads via Lhasa , the capital of the autonomous region of Tibet , to Shanghai .
Economical meaning
The governments of both states have set up a zone within 30 kilometers of the bridge with legal and administrative facilities for the entry and exchange of goods for the population living there. There is no visa for this group of people. In addition, no customs duty is to be paid for a large number of goods manufactured in Nepal, especially for agricultural and handicraft products . From this a brisk economic activity has developed in the area around the bridge. Tibetan traders sell wool, salt, tea and the popular Tibetan medical products .
However, the trade in goods of all kinds produced in other parts of China dominates. The goods arriving on trucks are usually unloaded in Zhangmu , the place on the Chinese side closest to the bridge, taken over the bridge and loaded onto trucks of the destination country. This elaborate procedure is due to customs and other administrative reasons, and it is also due to the change in the side of the road ( left and right-hand traffic ). In order to improve the sometimes chaotic processes on the Nepalese side, a new truck depot is being built near the town of Kodari with Chinese help .
Some of the goods are also offered for sale on site. Many Tibetans rent the ground floor of their home to traders from other Chinese regions. Every day around 500 Nepalese cross the Friendship Bridge to sell their products or to purchase Chinese goods for their own use or for resale in their homeland. In the opposite direction, around 250 Chinese cross the bridge every day.
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 get off the bus in Nepal and walk across the bridge to continue there with a Chinese company.
Others
Former Nepalese Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai said during his tenure that Nepal as a whole should become a friendship bridge between China and India .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ China's Nepalese friendship road leads to the heart of India's market The Guardian, April 23, 2013. Retrieved June 2, 2013.
- ↑ Kathmandu to Lhasa Overland Tibet Tour website from November 14, 2012. Accessed June 2, 2013.
- ^ Zhangmu Town website of China International Travel Service Guilin (CITS Guilin) . Retrieved June 2, 2013.
- ↑ Nepal's Araniko Highway ( Memento of April 28, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) CCTV of April 28, 2013. Retrieved June 1, 2013.
- ↑ Shigatse Zhangmu Port Internet presence Dreams-Travel . Retrieved June 2, 2013.
- ↑ Friendship Bridge boosting Nepal and China bond ( Memento from April 25, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Report from the Xinhua News Agency of March 29, 2012. Retrieved June 22, 2013.
- ↑ Nepal will be a friendship bridge between India, China Report of the Indian broadsheet journal Daily News and Analysis from September 16, 2011. Accessed June 16, 2013.