Gyirong Town (; ; ne, केरुङ), also referred to as ''Kyirong'' or ''Kerung'', is situated in the southern part of

Gyirong County Gyirong (alternatively romanized as sKyid-grong, Kyirong, ; ) is a county of Xigazê Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region. It is famous because of its mild climatically conditions and its abundant vegetation which is unusual for the Tibetan plate ...

in the

Tibet Autonomous Region The Tibet Autonomous Region or Xizang Autonomous Region, often shortened to Tibet or Xizang, is a province-level autonomous region of the People's Republic of China in Southwest China. It was overlayed on the traditional Tibetan regions ...

, China. The town is situated on the east bank of Gyirong River (Gyirong Zangbo), a tributary of the

Trishuli River The Trishuli River ( ne, त्रिशूली नदी) is one of the major tributaries of the Narayani River basin in central Nepal. It originates in Tibet as a stream and enters Nepal at Gyirong Town. Etymology The Trishuli is named after ...

with an elevation of about . It has a subtropical mountain monsoon climate, with reasonable precipitation and warm weather, unusual for Tibet. The town is located south of the county seat

Zongga Zongga (; ) is a town in and the seat of Gyirong County in the Himalayas of the southwestern Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It lies at an altitude of and has one community () and six villages under its administration. See also *List of towns ...

and roughly north of

Rasuwa Fort Rasuwa Fort or Rasuwa Gadhi ( Nepali: ) 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 north of the Nepalese town of Timure in Langtang National Park, yet ...

on the China-Nepal border where a

border crossing Border control refers to measures taken by governments to monitor and regulate the movement of people, animals, and goods across land, air, and maritime borders. While border control is typically associated with international borders, it a ...

into

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...

is located. In Gyirong Town, there is a village of ethnic

Nepali Nepali or Nepalese may refer to : Concerning Nepal * Anything of, from, or related to Nepal * Nepali people, citizens of Nepal * Nepali language, an Indo-Aryan language found in Nepal, the current official national language and a language spoken ...

referred to as

Daman people The Daman people ( zh, 达曼人) was one of the unrecognized ethnic groups in China and now officially classified as Tibetans. They are descendants of Nepalese Gurkha army centuries ago. Previously stateless, they were granted Chinese citizenship ...

. They are descendants of Nepalese

Gurkha The Gurkhas or Gorkhas (), with endonym Gorkhali ), are soldiers native to the Indian subcontinent, Indian Subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of Northeast India. The Gurkha units are composed of Nepalis and Indian Go ...

army centuries ago. Previously stateless, they were granted Chinese citizenship in 2003.

History

After the division of the Tibetan Empire, descendants of

Songtsen Gampo Songtsen Gampo (; 569–649? 650), also Songzan Ganbu (), was the 33rd Tibetan king and founder of the Tibetan Empire, and is traditionally credited with the introduction of Buddhism to Tibet, influenced by his Nepali consort Bhrikuti, of Nepa ...

fled to Gyirong and then founded the Gongtang Kingdom, whose ruins are now in Gyirong. During the first campaign of

Sino-Nepalese War The Sino-Nepalese War ( ne, नेपाल-चीन युद्ध), also known as the Sino-Gorkha war and in Chinese the campaign of Gorkha (), was an invasion of Tibet by Nepal from 1788 to 1792. The war was initially fought between Nepa ...

in late-1780s, the Nepalese forces captured Gyirong. It was recaptured by joint Chinese and Tibetan forces during the second campaign in July 1792. Rasuwa_Fort_01

Historically, Gyirong Town has been an important town in the cross border trade between China and Nepal as it was located on a major traditional trade thoroughfare between the two countries. In 1961, Gyirong was established as a

port of entry In general, a port of entry (POE) is a place where one may lawfully enter a country. It typically has border security staff and facilities to check passports and visas and to inspect luggage to assure that contraband is not imported. Internat ...

from

in Nepal by the Chinese government. In December 2014, the Gyirong

was opened to international users and this route between China and Nepal was considered to be more reliable than one through the

Zhangmu Zhangmu (also from Tibetan as Dram or Zham, from Nepali as Khasa) is a customs town and port of entry located in Nyalam County on the Nepal-China border, just uphill and across the Bhote Koshi River from the Nepalese town of Kodari. At above se ...

Kodari 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 away from Kodari. Kodari is a major border c ...

border crossing.

The April 2015 earthquake

Gyirong/Rasuwa played a minor role as a cross-border trade route until about a year after the

April 2015 Nepal earthquake The April 2015 Nepal earthquake (also known as the Gorkha earthquake) killed 8,964 people and injured 21,952 more. It occurred at on Saturday, 25 April 2015, with a magnitude of 7.8 Mw or 8.1 Ms and a maximum Mercalli Intensity of X (''Extreme ...

as the cross-border route through the Zhangmu-Kodari border crossing was more badly damaged, only reopening on 29 May 2019. Both corridors sustained quake damage and had been closed due to the collapse of the border bridges at both locations and due to continuing rockfall from unstable hillsides, the Gyirong/Rasuwa crossing being technically easier to re-open. The Gyirong-Rasuwa Fort route experienced quicker recovery since it is favoured for trans-Himalayan connectivity due to lower elevation and gentler pass slope. A temporary bridge was constructed in place of the damaged concrete bridge while a new concrete bridge was constructed and opened on 7 June 2019. However, hillside stabilization had yet to be addressed as of Nov 2018 and this was necessary before major infrastructure work could progress. Bridges remain damaged and only recently begun reconstruction. Additionally transnational electricity projects are expected to pass through the area, although funding is still a question mark and Nepali government remains cash strapped and overburdened with competing projects.

References

Gyirong County China–Nepal border crossings {{Shigatse-geo-stub