Looking up from street level you can see houses rising up on the mountain in the border city of Zhangmu, photo from CRIENGLISH.com.

Border cities are notoriously interesting places and so I woke full of anticipation about what the daylight would reveal about Zhangmu. I had an impression etched in the darkness of our arrival last night and I was excited to explore.

Zhangmu is a city set on a mountainside, a comparatively low 2,000 metres above sea level as compared with other places in Tibet. The streets are extremely narrow and winding and as it's on the border with Nepal there are many trucks waiting to pick up or deliver goods. These trucks often lay idle and line the narrow streets. Most of the roads connecting Zhangmu to other places are also in the process of being created or repaired and falling rocks and landslides after heavy rain are not uncommon. These things all contribute to some hazardous driving conditions and the most common sound in the city is, without doubt, the car horn.

The mountains in and around Zhangmu are rich with lush vegetation. It appears to be the ideal place to have a green thumb as plant life here flourishes.

As you look up from street level you can see houses rising up on the mountain. It's an impressive sight. I wonder how they get down from there.

After breakfast we headed down the winding streets to the border with Nepal. This is a busy place filled with people and much activity. As we proceeded along the street towards the border we could see vendors selling everything from blankets to electrical equipment. It's here that many Nepalese people come to bargain and stock up on goods to take back to sell in Nepal.

The border is also a place to witness the multi-cultural melting pot that is Zhangmu. Members of the Tibetan ethnic group, Sherpas, Han Chinese, Nepalese and Indians all trade and live side by side here.  In fact in one shop I entered I was told they couldn't speak Chinese, only Nepalese of English. Luckily I had that covered.

As we stood on one side of the valley with a river flowing down below we could see Nepal on the other side. Here the actual borderline is the middle of the bridge, which spans the two mountains. 

Back at our hotel for lunch we had the privilege to meet with members of the CRI listener's club from Nepal.  After some welcoming words and a delicious meal we were treated to a traditional welcoming song from our Nepalese friends.

In the afternoon we headed back up the mountain. This time our destination was a Sherpa village. When I think of Sherpas I usually think of skilled mountain people who help other mountaineers. According to the Sherpas I have met, not all act in this role. Many are farmers or business people. Sherpas live on both sides of the border and the Sherpa village we visited today provided fantastic views.

This Sherpa village houses 460 residents and contains a tourist resort that opened six months ago. Local people are the main guests here at the moment and 150 of them can be accommodated per night.  According to the tourist resort manager the resort is already operating at a profit and it's little wonder why. The location, set among the lush green mountains, is the perfect place to escape and relax. Once they fix the roads leading into Zhangmu they can hope to attract even more people.

After dinner I had an early night but my CRI English colleague Liang tao had an appointment to play cards against members of the CRI Newsroom. The good news? CRI English emerged triumphant.

The half way point of this bridge divides Nepal from Tibet, photo from CRIENGLISH.com.

CRI reporter Julianne Page (L) and a Han Chinese trader, originally from Lanzhou, in his shop near the border with Nepal, photo from CRIENGLISH.com.

The border city of Zhangmu is an ethnic melting pot of different cultures, photo from CRIENGLISH.com.

This Sherpa village resort, set among the lush green mountains, provides the perfect place to escape and relax, photo from CRIENGLISH.com.

The view from above the Sherpa village resort shows the beautiful scenery below, photo from CRIENGLISH.com.