Yet that progress came to a violent halt on the morning of Aug. 26, when a flash flood caused by a mountain glacier ripped through the port in Shigatse, in China’s southwestern Xizang Autonomous Region. As of Sept. 2, the disaster had killed at least 1,204 in Nepal and 21 in China, according to Xinhua News Agency. Almost 5,000 people remain missing, including 546 in Gyirong.
onsdag 9. september 2026
Remembering Gyirong: The Bustling Port That Vanished in a Flash
Photographer He Xu first passed through the China-Nepal border at Gyirong Port in 2010. He remembers that it was just a row of rustic, clay-colored bungalows. Over the past 16 years, he has revisited at least 100 times, witnessing the area’s steady growth, with those bungalows eventually replaced by a grand, imposing building.
Yet that progress came to a violent halt on the morning of Aug. 26, when a flash flood caused by a mountain glacier ripped through the port in Shigatse, in China’s southwestern Xizang Autonomous Region. As of Sept. 2, the disaster had killed at least 1,204 in Nepal and 21 in China, according to Xinhua News Agency. Almost 5,000 people remain missing, including 546 in Gyirong.
Yet that progress came to a violent halt on the morning of Aug. 26, when a flash flood caused by a mountain glacier ripped through the port in Shigatse, in China’s southwestern Xizang Autonomous Region. As of Sept. 2, the disaster had killed at least 1,204 in Nepal and 21 in China, according to Xinhua News Agency. Almost 5,000 people remain missing, including 546 in Gyirong.