China-Nepal Friendship Bridge to be finished for reopening port

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The China-Nepal Friendship Bridge is being topped up in preparation for the reopening of Zhangmu (Khasa) Port in the Tibet Autonomous Region. The main structure of the bridge is said to be ready for vehicles to pass next week. The 82-meter-long bridge is the main passway to link China and Nepal.

"We have enough equipment and workers to rebuild the Friendship Bridge, but we are short on time. So we are pulling more efforts with the time we have, using a three-shift rotation," said Liu Xuliang, the chief engineer for the reconstruction of the bridge.

An earthquake of magnitude 8.1 struck Nepal in 2015. The quake destroyed roads and caused landslides on the China-Nepal border. The Zhangmu port was forced to shut down. Chinese locals were immediately evacuated but Chinese immigration police stayed to provide aid to victims in neighboring Nepalese villages. They spent the past 1,500 days safeguarding the border.

"Rocks rolled off from the mountains, clashing with each other causing sparks. It was terrifying. But we are the guardians of the border. If we had left, who was going to safeguard the region?" said Qu Peng, an immigration police officer at the Khasa Port.

Before the earthquake, more than 100 cargo trucks passed through the port on a daily basis. And 300 to 500 Indian pilgrims and over 2,000 residents along the border also used the port every day. The port accounted for over 90 percent of trade between China and Nepal.