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Zham Trade Port between Tibet and Nepal

the Zham port
The Zham Port is located in the west of Mt. Qomolangma. It is known as the end of  National Highway 318 and boundary between China and Nepal. It was officially opened in 1966 and was ratified as the state class-A port by China's State Council in 1983. 

Every evening from 6 to 7 p.m., there are hundreds of trucks from Nepal filled in the narrow streets of Zham Town of Tibet Autonomous Region, which is located on the China-Nepal border. After the "TATA" brand trucks made in India unloaded Nepalese goods, they are arranged by the local traffic police to stay overnight in the Parking lot halfway up the mountain, waiting for the next day to return to Nepal fully loaded with Chinese goods. This is the reality of China's only Class-A land trade port town in Tibet at present.
 
The Zham Port is located in the west of Mt. Qomolangma. It is known as the end of  National Highway 318 and boundary between China and Nepal. It was officially opened in 1966 and was ratified as the state A-class treaty port by China's State Council in 1983.
 
As the leading town in Tibet's development, it enjoys the fame of "Miniature Hong Kong" on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. From 1966 to 1983, only hundreds of ethnic Sherpa lived in this small town.

the Zham port
Every evening from 6 to 7 p.m., there are hundreds of trucks from Nepal filled in the narrow streets of Zham Town of Tibet Autonomous Region, which is located on the China-Nepal border.
 
"At that time the so-called trade was only made between locals and the Nepalese, mainly focused on food, livestock and animal fur," said Gyalmoco, a 60-year-old Sherpa businessman."Since 1980s, some enterprising businessmen from Sichuan Province and Qinghai Province have come to Zham for business, driving the locals to participate into the border trade. However, the traffic was inconvenient at that time, so the local people carried goods from both of the two sides like ants moving."
 
Because of the Sherpa's natural physical advantages, they are known as "porter on Mt. Qomolangma". Many Sherpa take up occupations like mountain guides or porters in Nepal, and local Sherpa in Zham mainly rely on plantation, herding and hunting.
 
The talents of Sherpa finally bring them much wealth after the warming of border trade. They are hard-working, and proficient in Sherpa language, Nepal, Tibetan, and even English and Chinese.
 
More and more Sherpas have started their own businesses.
Nepalese purcase goods in Zham Port.
Nepalese purcase goods in Zham Port.
 
Gyalmoco recalled: "Many villagers earned money and I also wanted to try it. At the very beginning, I purchased goods from Qinghai, which mainly were daily necessities including washing powder and slippers. Generally, they were bought by the Nepal businessmen."
 
With the increasingly convenient transportation, the Zham Port gets more prosperous. Gradually, Sherpa had the first millionaire and multi-millionaire. Now the millionaire Sherpa can be seen everywhere in Zham.
 
Gyalmoco now has a four-story building, earning 20000 yuan (3196 U.S. dollars) every month as rents. He also has two wholesale shops in Nepal and one supermarket in Zham which was opened in 2001.
 
The prosperous trade has also facilitated communications between the people of two countries. Generally, the business is carried out in the form of cooperation between the two countries' merchants. Gyalmoco's shops in Nepal are cooperated with the locals.
 
Many Nepalese come to Zham for work.
Many Nepalese come to Zham for work.
 
"After all, they are familiar with Nepal's policies, and the customers in Nepal tend to believe them. Many Nepalese also come to Zham for work," said Gyalmoco.
 
Gyalmoco also said that now he has a broad source of goods, mainly from Yiwu City of Zhejiang Province and Guangzhou. "The small commodities in these places are much cheaper and have more varieties, warmly welcomed in Nepal."
 
Gyalmoco's goods are finally transported to Nepal by the continuous "TATA" trucks. In the peak season, every day above 200 trucks go to Nepal.
 
According to the latest statistics, the total value of trade in Zham Port was about 1.621 billion yuan (about 0.26 billion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter of 2014, accounting for 87.43 percent of the total exports and imports in Tibet.
Master Catherine Jigme

About the Author - Master Catherine Jigme

With exceptional passion and outstanding leadership, Mrs. Catherine has dedicated herself to Tibet inbound tourism and China tour for 15 years. As one of the handful females who see great potential of Chinese inbound tourism, Catherine has made great contribution to promoting Tibet tourism and enhancing the employment of Tibetans and prosperity of local Tibetan community.

Over the years, she travelled overseas with Tibet Tourism Bureau many times to promote Tibet tourism. Currently, Catherine works as the marketing director of Tibet Vista, an opinion leader behind the whole team of Tibet Vista.

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