Gyirong Town

Gyirong Town (Tibetan: སྐྱིད་གྲོང་ ; simplified Chinese: 吉隆镇; traditional Chinese: 吉隆鎮; pinyin: Jílóng zhèn; Nepali: केरुङ), also referred to as Kyirong or Kerung, is situated in the southern part of Gyirong County in the Tibet Autonomous Region, China. The town is situated on the east bank of Gyirong River (Gyirong Zangbo), a tributary of the Trishuli River with an elevation of about 2,700 metres (8,900 ft). It has a subtropical mountain monsoon climate, with reasonable precipitation and warm weather, unusual for Tibet.

Not to be confused with Kerung VDC.
Gyirong Town

སྐྱིད་གྲོང་ · 吉隆镇
Gyirong Town
Location in Tibet Automomous Region
Coordinates (Gyirong Town government): 28°23′36″N 85°19′45″E
CountryPeople's Republic of China
Autonomous regionTibet
Prefecture-level cityShigatse
CountyGyirong
Elevation
2,700 m (8,900 ft)

The town is located 70 kilometres (43 mi) south of the county seat Zongga and roughly 25 km (16 mi) north of Rasuwa Fort on the China-Nepal border where a border crossing into Nepal is located.

In Gyirong Town, there is a village of ethnic Nepali referred to as Daman people. They are descendants of Nepalese Gurkha army centuries ago. Previously stateless, they were granted Chinese citizenship in 2003.[1]

History

After the division of the Tibetan Empire, descendants of Songtsen Gampo fled to Gyirong and then founded the Gongtang Kingdom, whose ruins are now in Gyirong.

Rasuwa Fort is a China-Nepal border crossing located 25 km south of Gyirong Town.

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 from Rasuwa Fort in Nepal by the Chinese government.[2] In December 2014, the Gyirong port of entry was opened to international users[3] and this route between China and Nepal was considered to be more reliable than one through the Zhangmu-Kodari border crossing.[4]

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 as the cross-border route through the Zhangmu-Kodari border crossing was more badly damaged, only reopening on 29 May 2019.[5] Both corridors sustained quake damage and had been closed[3] 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[6] 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.[7] 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.[6]

References
  1. Woebom, Tenzin (2014-12-23). ""Eastern Gypsies": Damans in Tibet". Vtibet. Retrieved 2017-02-13.
  2. 李月 (2009-11-04). 西藏吉隆：加速发展的边境小镇 [Gyirong, Tibet: Accelerated Development of the Border Town] (in Chinese). Xinhua News. Archived from the original on 2011-08-18. Retrieved 2011-11-16.
  3. Murton, Galen (March 2016). "A Himalayan Border Trilogy: The Political Economies of Transport Infrastructure and Disaster Relief between China and Nepal". Cross-Currents E-Journal. ISSN 2158-9674. Retrieved 2017-02-09. On December 1, 2014, the Sino-Nepal border at Rasuwaghadi was officially opened for commercial business.
  4. "Rasuwa-Kerung road spells new heights in trade". Timure. February 17, 2010. Retrieved 2017-02-13. Technically, the Syafrubesi-Rasuwagadhi road is more reliable than the Kodari Highway, said Sitaula.
  5. "Kodari Checkpoint To Open Today". The Spotlight Online. 2019-05-29. Retrieved 2019-06-28.
  6. Rai, Om Astha. "The Tibet Train". Times of Nepal. Retrieved 2019-07-01.
  7. "New China-Nepal friendship bridge comes into operation". Times of India. 2019-06-07. Retrieved 2019-07-01.


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