Kathmandu

 Located in the bowl-shaped Kathmandu Valley of central Nepal, Kathmandu is the capital city of Nepal and the center of politics, administration, business and education, and also the only city with a population of over one million. According to statistics in 2012, 100,670 thousand people live in a land of 506.7 thousand square kilometers. The sub-tropical climate with an average temperature of 20℃ makes the city enjoy a pleasant climate and bright sunlight all year round. That is why it is called “Heaven in the mountain”.

Firstly built in 723 AD, Kathmandu has been the famous historic and international tourist city. There are more than 2,700 temples of various sizes, which is why the place is called “City of Temples”. With an area of 7 sq.km., the central city encompasses more than 250 temples, Buddhist prayer rooms and Buddhist pagodas, which looks as if the number of temples are more than that of houses, and the Buddha statues, more than people living here. Kathmandu is rich in cultural relics and places of interests, such as Hanuman Dhoka, the central government building, the Lion Palace, Monument des martyrs, Goraknath Temple, Pashupationath Temple Compound, Budhanilkantha Temple Compound, and Swayambhunath Stupa, which were all recorded in the 18 Key Cultural Relics Protection Units of Asia by UNESCO.  Every year, Kathmandu attracts tourists home and abroad with its mysterious religious color, long history, brilliant tradition, skilled craftsmanship, extraordinary landscapes, brilliant snow mountain and simple and sincere folkway.

As an important transportation hub of Nepal, Kathmandu hosts the only International airport of Nepal. Tribhuvan Highway, the first highway connecting Kathmandu with outside, links Lhasa in China through Sino-Nepalese Highway.

With agriculture as its main economic pillar, Kathmandu is an important distributing centre of animal by-products. And handicraft is famous with carpet and leather manufacturing.

Tribhuvan University, located in the southern suburbs of Kathmandu, is the largest university in Nepal, and Kathmandu University, lies in the outskirt, the second largest and oldest one.

The municipal government of Kathmandu is a non-centralized government constituted according to Local Autonomy Regulations, whose mayor and vice-mayor are appointed by central government, and the rest members are employed by election.  

On September 12, 1996, Kathmandu and Xi’an became sister cities. Besides Xi’an, the twin cities of Kathmandu include Lhasa in China, Matsumoto in Japan, Rangoon in Burma, Rochester and Eugene in America, Pyongyang in Korea and Minsk in The Republic of Belarus.