The Geological Catastrophe at Gyirong Port: Wounds and Pain Inflicted upon the Southern Silk Road

(AI scar-painting Gyirong Port, created by renowned artist and President of Silk Road News Agency Chen Entian)

Silk Road News Agency, A deafening roar reverberated across the southern foothills of the Himalayas on August 26, 2026. A high-altitude ice-rock avalanche on the north slope of Langtang Lirang Peak in Nepal unleashed a devastating debris flow, which—laden with boulders and debris of destroyed structures—came crashing down upon Gyirong County, Shigatse City, Tibet. As of August 27, the disaster had claimed a large number of lives and left many others missing. Roads, communications, and power supplies were all severed, and this millennia-old trade route was instantly paralysed.

Gyirong Gully, where Gyirong Port is situated, has since ancient times been known as the "Bo-Ni Ancient Route"—the Bhutan–Nepal corridor through which China connects with South Asia—and serves as a vital throat of the Southern Silk Road. Today, it handles over 60 percent of the China-Nepal overland freight volume, with its annual trade value surpassing 4.2 billion yuan. Yet merely one year and forty-nine days ago, the same region was struck by a debris flow that washed away the Friendship Bridge, leaving the port inoperable for nearly half a year. Before the old wounds could heal, new pain arrived.

The agony stems from the untamable geological destiny of this land. Gyirong Gully stretches 93 kilometres with an elevation drop exceeding 2,400 metres. Its precipitous terrain, fractured rock masses, and abundant precipitation—compounded by mountain slopes loosened by the magnitude-8.1 earthquake that struck Nepal in 2015—make disaster risks an ever-present companion. When a "golden corridor" bearing the economic lifeblood between nations is squeezed onto such a geological fault zone, coexistence with catastrophe becomes the deepest wound and pain of the Southern Silk Road.

（By Nan Tian, Commentator of Silk Road News, Silk Road News Agency）