The first straight passenger bus plying from Nepal's capital Kathmandu to Lhasa city of China's Tibet Autonomous Region set off in Kathmandu Sunday morning, setting up a new milestone for Nepal-China friendship.

A total of 39 passengers, including nine Nepali government officials, two reporters from Xinhua, three Nepali journalists and 25 others, are enjoying the first operation of the straight bus service.

The shuttle bus started its 955 km long journey from the headquarters of Sajha Yatayat, Nepal's state-run transport company.

The bus will meet with another straight bus plying from the opposite direction with 23 passengers from Lhasa at the Nepal-China Friendship Bridge between Tatobani and Zhangmu ports on the border, where the two sides will hold a brief celebration.

"The straight bus service is a historic event and is opening a new avenue between the two neighboring countries," Ram Narayan Singh, minister for labor and transport management, told Xinhua.

Similarly, Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Sun Heping said that the initiation of bilateral bus service would further consolidate and develop the Nepali-China cooperation in the fields of economy, tourism and culture, and strengthen traditional friendship between the peoples of two countries.

"We will try our best at any cost to make the first operation successful," said Mukunda Raj Satyal, executive chief of Sajha Yatayat.

(Xinhua News Agency May 1, 2005)