Sherathang trade mart and the wool road

For centuries, goods moved over these passes on mules and yaks. Traders called it the wool road more than the silk road: Tibetan wool came south to Kalimpong and Gangtok, and cloth, grain, kerosene and tools went north. Before 1962, about 200 mules worked the Gangtok–Lhasa run, each carrying about 80 kg, and the trip took 20 to 25 days. Most of it ran through about 200 licensed trading firms.

In 2003 India and China agreed on Sherathang, on the Indian side, and Rinqingang, on the Tibetan side, as border trade marts. Trade reopened on 6 July 2006, limited to a list of goods and a few days a week in the warmer months. It never reached the early forecasts, partly because of narrow roads and short seasons. Trade was halted in 2020 during the pandemic and border tensions; in August 2025 the two governments agreed to reopen it. Check current status before you travel.

Sherathang also has a mail exchange point: letters between India Post and China Post have been handed over here on set days. For a visitor, there is little to buy. The value of the stop is seeing a working frontier town at about 4,100 m, the sheds where trucks are checked, and the road beyond it that once carried mule bells all the way to Lhasa. Ten minutes here makes the whole Silk Route story easier to picture.