Beijing: A Chinese survey team reached Wednesday the peak Mount Everest through Tibet. Their job is to remeasure the exact height of the world’s tallest mountain. According to China’s measurement the height of Mount Everest is 8844.43 metres. This is four metres less than Nepal’s calculations, the state-run Xinhua reported.
China differs with Nepal over the height of Mount Everest. It began May 1 a new survey to measure the altitude of the world’s highest peak.
Crucial development
The event marked a crucial step in China’s mission to remeasure the height of the world’s highest peak. Scientists believe the move will enhance human knowledge of nature. It will also help boost scientific development.
After reaching the top, team members began erecting a survey marker on the snow-covered peak. The peak measures less than 20 square metres.
6 rounds of measurements taken in the past
Chinese surveyors have conducted six rounds of scaled measurement and scientific research on Mt Everest in the past. The country released the height of the peak twice in 1975 and 2005. On the first occasion the height was declared as 8,848.13 metres and 8,844.43 metres in the second.
In Tibetan language, Mount Everest is known as ‘Mount Qomolangma’. China and Nepal settled their border dispute in 1961. The boundary line of the two countries passes through the summit of Mount Everest.
Better infrastructure
More and more international climbers are reportedly using the Tibetan side of Mount Everest. This is because China has improved infrastructure facilities compared to that of Nepal.
China reopened the Qomolangma National Park in southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, May 1. It had remained closed since mid-January as a precautionary measure following the coronavirus outbreak. Nepal closed all of its Himalayan peaks including Mount Everest in March in view of the coronavirus outbreak.
Mobile towers on Mount Everest
Chinese tech firm Huawei is working with ‘China Mobile’ to build two 5G stations on Mount Everest. The stations are expected to cover the summit of the mountain. The two installations will be the world’s highest terrestrial 5G base stations, Global Times reported May 1.
“The 6,500-metre high will likely be the highest place where Huawei is able to build a 5G station. The company, however, doesn’t know whether signals will reach the 8,848 metres summit. We are striving to make that happen,” Zhang Bo, Huawei project manager said.
PTI