Kodari is a small village located at the border with

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. The village is located at the end–point of the Arniko Highway, which connects Kodari with the capital city of

Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...

. Kathmandu is away from Kodari. Kodari is a major

border crossing Border control comprises 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 als ...

from Nepal into the

Tibet Autonomous Region The Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), often shortened to Tibet in English or Xizang in Pinyin, Hanyu Pinyin, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China. It was established in 1965 to replace the ...

. Kodari is a part of Bhotekoshi rural municipality in

Sindhupalchok District Sindhupalchok District (or Sindhupalchok, ) is a part of Bagmati Province and one of the List of districts of Nepal, seventy-seven districts of Nepal, with an area of . The district's headquarters is in Chautara. In 2006, 336,478 people resided ...

Bagmati Province Bagmati Province (, ''Bāgmatī pradēśa'') is one of the seven Provinces of Nepal, provinces of Nepal established by the constitution of Nepal. Bagmati is Nepal's second-most populous province and fifth largest province by area. It is bordered ...

(previously Tatopani VDC of

Bagmati Zone Bagmati Zone ( ''Bāgmatī Añcal'') was one of the fourteen zones of Nepal until the restoration of zones to Provinces. Its headquarters are Kathmandu. It was named after the Bagmati River. It was in the Central Development Region of Nepal. T ...

of Central Development Region; from 1990 to 2017). The other side is the town of

Zhangmu 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. ...

(also known as Dram or Khasa in Nepali) located in Nyalam County, Shigatse Prefecture of the

History

In ancient times, it was the starting point of a trans-Himalayan caravan route. Newar traders headed north from Kodari and after crossing Kuti pass turned east to continue their journey across the Tibetan Plateau to

Lhasa Lhasa, officially the Chengguan District of Lhasa City, is the inner urban district of Lhasa (city), Lhasa City, Tibet Autonomous Region, Southwestern China. Lhasa is the second most populous urban area on the Tibetan Plateau after Xining ...

. The construction of the Kathmandu-Kodari Road during the 1963-67 period. It was named Araniko Highway in Nepal and China National Highway 318 beyond. As of 2011, Nepal is planning to expand it to six metalled lanes. China started building a railway in 2008 connecting Lhasa with

on the Nepal-China border. It is an extension of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. In 2012, China signed agreement with Nepal to make this one of six ports of entries between Nepal and China. The

April April is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian and Julian calendars. Its length is 30 days. April is commonly associated with the season of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere, where it is the ...

and May 2015 earthquakes essentially closed the route due to numerous landslides and boulders coming down, damaging roads in Nepal and Tibet (China). There was an evacuation and people have been slow to come back, and there is large reduction in trading. Chinese and Nepali officials met in December 2016 to discuss potential reopening of the port in 2017, which was blocked by progress of road construction. The checkpoint finally reopened on 29 May 2019. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the border closed until second week of June 2020, then closed again until further notice (likely thru 2021) due to a landslide since July 9, while also warning of lakeburst of Tso Lake.

Geography

Kodari is located at an altitude of . Kodari is from Kathmandu. The height gain is from to . On a clear day, the Himalayan chain is visible on both sides of the road. From

to Nyalam, a distance of the height gain is from to .

Transport

Kodari is just south of and above the Friendship Bridge

where Araniko Highway becomes China National Highway 318 and immediately passes

village in Nyalam County, Shigatse Prefecture,

en route to

Shigatse Shigatse, officially known as Xigazê () or Rikaze ( zh, s=日喀则, p=Rìkāzé), is a prefecture-level city of the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Its area of jurisdiction, with an area of , corresponds to the histo ...

. Before the earthquake, tourists traveling between Nepal and the

make substantial use of this crossing, and there was also substantial trans-border trade. Chinese trucks traveling on the Tibet-Nepal Friendship Highway offload goods at Zhangmu and transfer them to Nepalese trucks. Even though the drive between Kodari and Kathmandu is only four hours, the sourcing logistics and bureaucracy of cross-border trade takes around 2 weeks, as such in 2013 it takes each Nepalese truck almost half a month for a round trip.

Gallery

File:NEPAL Route 2.JPG, The Araniko Highway in Kodari just before the

Sino-Nepal Friendship Bridge The Sino-Nepal Friendship Bridge (; ) is a bridge spanning the Sun Kosi river, linking Kodari in Sindhulpalchok District, Nepal, and Zhangmu, China. Description Opened in 1964, the bridge was the only official border crossing between the t ...

. File:The Friendship Bridge connecting China with Nepal.jpg, The

with Nepal on the left, and China on the right side of the

Sun Kosi The Sunkoshi, also spelled Sunkosi, is a river that is part of the Koshi or Saptkoshi River system in Nepal. Sunkoshi has two source streams, one that arises within Nepal in Choukati, and the other more significant stream that flows in from N ...

River. File:TIB-grenze-koffertraeger.jpg, Women hard at work at the

border crossing. File:Nepal China Broder Tatopani.jpg, Kodari customs buildings with view of Zhangmu on mountain slope in the background.

External links

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References

{{Kosi basin Populated places in Sindhupalchowk District