Border guard crosses the language barrier

Friend to many

In the early 2000s, one of the duties of border officers like Thubten Tsewang was to check the identification documents of Nepalese residents who crossed the border for shopping. "To be fluent in Mandarin and Tibetan was not sufficient in these circumstances," he said.

During a patrol in July 2008, Thubten Tsewang and another officer, Chen Hui, encountered a Nepalese man who had suffered a heart attack.

Chen, who could speak Nepali, helped get the man to the nearest hospital for treatment.

The incident prompted Thubten Tsewang to accelerate his study of Nepali. A stack of notebooks with Nepali words and sentences gradually piled up by his bedside.

"I had developed the habit of reviewing my notes for about half an hour before going to sleep, no matter how tired I was at the end of the day," Thubten Tsewang said.

His perseverance earned him a place in a language program at Tibet University.

Karma Tamang, a Nepalese businessman who is building a hostel in Hilsa village, said he has known Thubten Tsewang for more than a decade. "He is a very helpful and calm man, and fluent in Nepali," he said. "We are practically neighbors. To be able to talk with him helps us address misunderstandings and difficulties when we trade with people, and we have built a friendship over the years."

Thubten Tsewang is also tasked with translating meetings between Chinese border authorities and their Nepalese counterparts, aimed at deepening collaboration.

Despite his achievements, Thubten Tsewang is a humble man.

"I remember the difficult times when I had to eat barley flour every day to save money," he said. "I am more than grateful to be a police officer at the border."