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Traveling Through Nepal-China Border Port
Chinaddaily.com, LHASA
July 3, 2012: several thousand tourists and traders are entering and leaving Tibet through Zham: a town on China's border with Nepal each day now, as the travel season sets in, local authorities said today. Zham located in Nyalam county of Xigaze Prefecture is 114 km from Kathmandu: capital of Nepal, therefore, is a major route for international tourists and border residents traveling between Nepal and China.
“Several thousand people travel between Tibet and Kathmandu through the Zham Port every day during the annual peak travel season that lasts from June to October,” said customs authorities in Zham. Last year, the Zham Port had 1.6 million entries and exits, including 1.5 million made by border residents, according to figures provided by the Nyalam checkpoint.
To shorten the travelers' waiting time, customs officers on the Chinese side have put a bar code on each Nepalese border resident's ID card. "It takes only 8 seconds to verify a border resident's identity, and a few minutes to go through customs formalities," said Liu Weiqiong, an officer at a checkpoint in Nyalam. Before the bar code system was introduced, he said even border residents had to wait for hours.
Border residents from the Nepalese side often travel through the Nepal-China border bridge - also known as the Friendship Bridge, carrying Chinese-made blankets, stuffed toys and utensils from Zham into Katmandu for use and resale.
In the first six months of this year, border residents made 293,441 entries and exits through Zham Port.
Meanwhile, the port reported 29,131 tourist arrivals and departures.
