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Nyalam (Chinese: 聂拉木; Pinyin: Nièlāmù) is a small Tibetan town near the Nepal border. It is the county seat of Nyalam County in Shigatse Prefecture It is 35 km from Zhangmu town in the same county, which is the point of entry to Nepal. Nyalam is situated at 3,750 metres (12,300 ft) above sea level.
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Map of Nielamuzhen, Nyalam, Xigaze, Tibet, China
Once a town of stone buildings and tin roofs, Nyalam was known as Tsongdu and was part of the historical Tsang Province of Tibet before the annexation by China. Nepalese trans-himalayan traders called it Kuti (Nepali: कुती) and also 'The Gate of Hell' because the old trail down to the Nepalese border was so treacherous.
Today Nyalam is a fast-growing little town made of concrete buildings located on the Friendship Highway between Lhasa and the Nepal border. South of Nyalam the road drops abruptly through the gorge of the Matsang Tsangpo or Sun Kosi as it is known in Nepal. The town is about 40 km from the Nepalese border and 150 km from Kathmandu.