The 14 Nepal-China Border Crossing Points: A Full Directory

Nepal and China share a long, high-altitude boundary that runs northwest to southeast along the crest of the Himalaya, including the summit of Mount Everest (Sagarmatha). Nepali sources, following the 1961 Sino-Nepal Boundary Treaty, commonly put the border at about 1,414 kilometres; Wikipedia and some Western studies cite a slightly shorter 1,389 km. The line was fixed through three instruments: the Boundary Agreement of 21 March 1960 (2016 BS), the Boundary Treaty of 5 October 1961 (2018 BS), and the Boundary Protocol of 23 January 1963 (2019 BS), which demarcated the frontier with stone pillars.

Along this frontier the two states recognise 14 traditional crossing points, the figure most often quoted in the phrase 'how many border crossings does Nepal have with China'. These 14 are not all modern highway ports; the great majority are historic Himalayan passes (bhanjyang) that trans-Himalayan communities have used for centuries to trade salt, wool, grain, herbs and livestock, and to reach pilgrimage sites in Tibet. Only a handful carry roads or formal customs and immigration facilities.

It is worth separating two overlapping counts that news reports sometimes blur. The 14 'traditional crossing points' are the recognised passes along the whole northern frontier. Separately, official reporting notes that there are around 21 trading points in total, of which 14 were formally reopened in 2024, with the remainder due to reopen in phases. For everyday reference, the working answer to 'how many border crossings Nepal China' is fourteen traditional points, anchored by two major international road ports.

On 26 May 2024 (Jestha 2081 BS), Nepal and China formally reopened 14 traditional trading points that had been sealed since January 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic, a closure of more than four years that badly hurt remote mountain economies dependent on Tibetan markets. The joint ceremony was held on the Chinese side at Chentang (also written Zhentang), in Dinggye County of Shigatse, Tibet Autonomous Region.

Nepal was represented by then Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha, and China by Silang Nima, Vice-chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region government. The reopened points span border districts including Taplejung, Sankhuwasabha, Dolakha, Gorkha, Mustang, Dolpa and Darchula, restoring cross-border barter, family visits and access to Tibetan trading towns for communities that otherwise have to move goods by mule and porter.

For the border villages, the reopening mattered because road connectivity on the Nepali side is thin: many of these settlements are days from the nearest highway. The two governments have long allowed special arrangements for such communities, and the 2024 reopening was widely covered because Himalayan crossings tend to make news each time they close and reopen after floods, snow or political disruption.

The list below sets out the 14 recognised traditional crossings from the eastern to the far-western Himalaya, with the Nepali district and province, the Tibetan (Chinese) counterpart town or county, and the broad status of each point. Spellings vary widely between Nepali, Tibetan and Chinese renderings, so several points appear under more than one name. Provinces span the full northern belt: Koshi in the east, then Bagmati, Gandaki, Karnali and Sudurpashchim in the far west.

Use this as a quick reference; the sections that follow describe the busiest road ports and the higher seasonal passes in more detail.

Almost all formal, container-scale trade between Nepal and China passes through just three motorable crossings, all built where roads reach the frontier rather than at the highest passes. Tatopani (Kodari), in Sindhupalchowk, connects to Zhangmu in Nyalam County and was Nepal's original overland gateway to Tibet, active since the late 1960s along the Araniko Highway. It was crippled by the April 2015 Gorkha earthquake, reopened only partially afterwards, and resumed fuller two-way trade in 2023.

Rasuwagadhi (Timure), in Rasuwa, links to Kerung (Gyirong) and rose to become Nepal's principal trade and transit route with China after 2015, carrying the bulk of formal cargo and passenger movement. It sits at low river-valley elevation on the Lhende/Bhotekoshi, making it road-friendly, but that same valley leaves it exposed to floods: on 8 July 2025 a glacial-lake outburst flood in Tibet swept away the Nepal-China Friendship (Miteri) Bridge and destroyed the dry port under construction, along with dozens of vehicles. Trade resumed only at the end of December 2025 after a temporary Bailey bridge was built.

Korala, in Upper Mustang, is the newest and highest of the three motorable points, opposite Lizi/Lektse in Zhongba County. At about 4,660 metres it is described as the lowest drivable pass between the Tibetan Plateau and the Indo-Gangetic plain, and it opened for vehicles in 2023 with port facilities at Nechung on the Nepali side. Linked to the Kaligandaki corridor, Korala has emerged as a strategic alternative trade lifeline, and it gained importance after the 2025 flood disruption at Rasuwagadhi.

Beyond the three road ports, the eastern Himalaya holds several storied foot-and-mule passes. Tiptala Bhanjyang in Taplejung, opposite Riwu in Dinggye County, was among the points reopened in 2024, and limited vehicular operations were reported from early 2025 as tracks improved on both sides. Kimathanka, in Sankhuwasabha, is one of the most searched of all the crossings; it faces the Tibetan town of Chentang/Riwu and functions mainly as a local barter point, with long-discussed but still incomplete road connectivity on the Nepali side.

Nangpa La, above the Khumbu in Solukhumbu, is the classic Sherpa trading and migration pass toward Tingri. Once a busy salt-and-wool route, it lost its official crossing status in the mid-2000s and today sees very little sanctioned traffic, though it retains deep cultural significance for Sherpa communities. Lapchi (reached via Lamabagar) in Dolakha is both a trade point toward Rongshar and an important Buddhist pilgrimage site associated with the yogi Milarepa; it was reopened for local movement in 2023.

These eastern passes share a common pattern: high elevation, no through-road, and use that is seasonal and community-based rather than commercial. Their reopenings matter most to the villages immediately below them, which rely on Tibetan markets for salt, grain and manufactured goods and on the passes for grazing and kinship ties that predate the modern boundary.

The Karnali and Sudurpashchim frontier holds the remotest crossings of all. In Dolpa, the Marim La / Kyato area opens as a seasonal high pass with a small annual market; in Mugu, the Nakchhe La (Nakchenangla) point historically opened for only about a week each year and had been effectively shut for long stretches before recent reopenings. These are among the least developed crossings, with no roads and trade conducted on foot and by pack animal at very high altitude.

Yari-Hilsa in Humla is the best known western point because it is the Nepali gateway for the Kailash-Mansarovar pilgrimage, connecting to Purang (Burang/Taklakot) in Tibet, and it hosts one of the four Nepal-China immigration offices. Tinkar Bhanjyang, also called Tinkar Lipu, sits in the far-western corner of Darchula in Byas rural municipality, near the sensitive India-Nepal-China trijunction. The Tinkar pass lies at roughly 5,258 metres and has long carried Byansi barter trade and pilgrims toward Taklakot; it was among the 14 points reopened in 2024, with seasonal crossing permits issued to traders.

Urai (Thado Dhunga) in Bajhang completes the western set, a seasonal pass toward Purang whose operational status has been intermittent and subject to periodic inspection. Across the west, the story is one of thin infrastructure, seasonal windows dictated by snow, and a mix of trade, herding and Hindu-Buddhist pilgrimage that ties these valleys as much to Tibet as to lowland Nepal.

Movement across most of these points is governed by longstanding bilateral arrangements rather than ordinary international travel rules. A 1981 agreement allowed border inhabitants to continue barter trade within about 30 km of the boundary, and a 2002 arrangement provided for 'exit-entry passes' so residents of bordering districts could visit the other side without full passports or visas. Formal immigration and customs facilities, by contrast, exist at only four points: Tatopani, Rasuwagadhi, Korala and Hilsa.

Because most crossings are high passes, they are seasonal by nature, typically open for only part of the year and shut by winter snow. They are also unusually vulnerable to disruption: glacial-lake outburst floods, landslides, earthquakes and political closures repeatedly interrupt trade, as the 2015 earthquake did to Tatopani and the July 2025 Bhotekoshi flood did to Rasuwagadhi. Each disruption tends to divert cargo to the surviving motorable ports and pushes fresh interest toward alternatives such as Korala.

For travellers and researchers, the practical takeaways are simple. Only Tatopani, Rasuwagadhi and Korala are realistically motorable and internationally operational; Hilsa is the main pilgrimage gateway; and the remaining points are seasonal, local-use passes whose openings and closures should be checked against current news before relying on them.