Trading on a firm friendship

Growing commercial links with China are helping the Nepalese government rebuild its economy after the country was devastated by an earthquake a year ago. Sylvia Chang reports from Rasuwa, Nepal.

The route from Nepal's capital city of Kathmandu to the Kerung border crossing, linking China, is about 150 kilometers. Bumpy and rocky, the road that snakes its way along the folded peaks of the Himalayas is now the only land-based lifeline between Nepal and its giant neighbor to the north.

The border crossing in Rasuwa district connects Nepal with Jilong county in the Tibet autonomous region. The route reopened in October, six months after it was closed after the devastating magnitude-7.8 earthquake that struck the country on April 25 last year. It is estimated that more than 8,000 people were killed and more than 21,000 injured in the quake and a series of strong aftershocks that followed.