A trekker on his way back from Everest (Photo : Reuters)
The Chinese government is considering plans to extend the railway that would link China to Nepal by building a rail tunnel under the world’s highest mountain, the Mount Everest.
The China Daily reported that the proposal is part of a series of rail plans that is currently under evaluation by the government.
A railway expert at the Chinese Academy of Engineering told the China Daily that the rail extension is being planned at Nepal's request as China has already linked to Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, through the Qinghai-Tibet railway.
The report said that Tibetan officials are expecting the project, which is considered as China's essential link to India's potential market, to be completed by 2020.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi had reportedly raised the proposal during his visit to Kathmandu in December last year, the report added.
"The line will probably have to go through Qomolangma so that workers may have to dig some very long tunnels," railway expert Wang Mengshu told the China Daily, referring to Mount Everest by its Tibetan name.
According to the report, China continues to build its presence in Nepal by building not only roads and railways, but also by providing funds for massive hydroelectric projects and airports as well as building a pilgrimage centre at Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha.
China is also planning to add more flight connections as the number of Chinese tourists visiting Nepal also grew by 20 percent to reach more than 71,107, the report said.
The markets of Kathmandu and Pokhara, the western Nepalese city, also flooded with Chinese-made products and goods, while new language schools teaching Mandarin were also set up in some cities in Nepal, the report said.
Last year, the Beijing Times reported that China was also planning to build a high-speed railway line to the U.S. that would include building about 125 miles of undersea tunnel that would become the world's longest, to link the Bering Strait between Russia and Alaska.
