Live Your Best Lives
Those who yearn for distant places always want to be on the road. We all have a passion for roads, but when it comes to domestic highways, most people only seem to think of the Sichuan-Tibet Highway. But the scenery of China's highways is far more than that. Today, I'll introduce you to some of them!
The Duku Highway runs from Dushanzi to Kuqa. Spanning 561 kilometers, it traverses towering mountains and traverses deep valleys, connecting numerous ethnic minority settlements. Its completion has shortened the distance between southern and northern Xinjiang by nearly half, from over 1,000 kilometers. However, the construction of this highway required the toil of tens of thousands of soldiers for 10 years, with 168 of them sacrificing their lives. This is a memory that will never be forgotten!
Here, you can experience "a different scenery every five miles, a different sky every ten miles." One-third of the Duku Highway is precipitous cliffs, one-fifth lies in alpine permafrost, and it crosses nearly ten major rivers in the Tianshan Mountains and traverses four perpetually snow-capped glacial passes. Grasslands, snow-capped mountains, canyons, lakes, cliffs...a dazzling array of scenery unfolds, all representing Xinjiang's top-tier scenery, a truly breathtaking journey.
This road is close to Erhai Lake and winds along its eyelashes. It has beautiful scenery and you can appreciate the diverse landforms of Erhai Lake wetland.
The most beautiful section is Haidong, which runs from Haidong Town through Tianjing Pavilion, Xiaoputuo, Shuanglang, Hongshan Temple to Jiangwei. It runs almost entirely along Erhai Lake. Whether you drive, ride a bicycle, ride a motorcycle, or walk, it is a very good route.
The Twenty-Four Turns of Qinglong is located in Qinglong County, Qianxinan Prefecture, Guizhou Province. The magic lies in the fact that it has 24 turns in just 4 kilometers. It is a famous historical highway during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, known as "Yaguan" in ancient times. It is majestic, strange, dangerous and steep, with the momentum of one man guarding the pass and ten thousand men unable to open it.
During World War II, large amounts of supplies transported by American planes via the Hump Route arrived in Kunming and were then transported to Chongqing and the Anti-Japanese War front via the "24-turn" winding mountain road. During the war, a total of 450,000 tons of international aid to China were transported to the Anti-Japanese War front. Especially in the middle and late stages of the war, an average of more than 3,000 vehicles transporting supplies passed through Qinglong every day, which can be called the "blood transfusion artery of the Anti-Japanese War" connecting Chongqing and Yunnan and Guizhou.
"In Zhaojun Village, the hometown of the beauty, a long dragon lies on the ripples on the water." In Xingshan County, Hubei Province, the hometown of Zhaojun, there is such a beautiful water highway. In order to avoid mountain opening and deforestation and protect the ecological environment, the entire kilometer road is built in the canyon stream, like a jade belt, and just like a swimming dragon, lingering and winding on the Xiangxi River.
This road, which is more than ten kilometers long and runs from Gufu Town in Xingshan County to Zhaojun Town, has a very Chinese-style name: Guzhao Highway. It is also China's first ecological and environmentally friendly water highway.
Nanbaxian, located in Qinghai, forms a section of the Haixi Highway, passing through here on the way to the Water Yadan. The origin of its name is somewhat poignant. In 1955, the first group of Qinghai geological surveyors arrived here to search for minerals. Eight female members of the expedition lost their way in a strong wind and perished. Legend has it that they ascended to heaven like fairies, and thus, a new place name, "Nanbaxian," appeared on the map of China.
Along the highway are wind-eroded Yardang landforms, and the highway extends straightly. There are few vehicles along the way, giving it a desolate feeling, making it very suitable for shooting highway blockbusters.
The Karakoram Highway, rated one of the world's ten most dangerous roads and also known as the China-Pakistan Friendship Highway or the Pamir Highway, stretches 1,032 kilometers from Kashgar in the north, through the Karakoram Mountains, the Pamir Plateau, and the western Himalayas, passing through the Khunjerab Pass on the China-Pakistan border, and south to the northern Pakistani city of Thakot.
The Karakoram Highway has a lowest altitude of 1,154 meters and a highest altitude of 4,733 meters. The terrain is undulating, crossing mountains and ridges and following rivers, and the natural landscape is extremely rich.
The Hemu Scenic Area Highway begins at Tershahan in Kanas Scenic Area and ends at Hemu Village, covering a total length of approximately 49 kilometers. The Hemu Highway is described as "a road within the scenery, and scenery along the roadside." The winding mountain road ascends through the woods, with wooden villages, grasslands, pastures, rivers, and forests interwoven along the roadside. Ten viewing platforms are located along the way, ensuring you don't miss any of the breathtaking scenery.
The Sichuan-Tibet Highway is one of the most challenging roads in China's history. Starting in Chengdu, it splits into two routes, north and south, at Xinduqiao Town, then converges at Bangda Town. The route continues through Basu, Bomi, Nyingchi, and Medog County to Lhasa. The northern route is 2,412 kilometers long, while the southern route is 2,149 kilometers long. The entire route is National Highway 318.
Both the north and south lines have stunning natural scenery, including the dangerous 72 bends of the Nujiang River, the holiness of Mount Gongga, the tranquility of Ranwu Lake... It is no wonder that it is one of the dreams of many people. Whether hiking, cycling or driving, they all want to take a trip on the Sichuan-Tibet Line.
The Langchuan Highway, known as China's "Route 66," connects Chuanzhusi and Langmusi, practically traversing the Zoige Grassland. Unlike the desolate Route 66 in the US, the Langchuan Highway is vibrant with verdant greenery in the summer and golden in the autumn, with clear skies and clear clouds. With excellent road conditions and stunning scenery, it's a perfect choice for a family road trip.
Ya'an-Xichang Expressway is a highway connecting Ya'an City and Xichang City. It is 240 kilometers long and is known as the "Ladder Expressway to the Sky" and the "Highway in the Clouds".
It is so named because it climbs from the edge of the Sichuan Basin to the highlands of the Hengduan Mountains, passing through the deep mountains and canyons of southwest China where geological disasters are frequent. The terrain is extremely rugged, almost a combination of a super viaduct and an ultra-long tunnel. Forests, canyons, rivers, wetlands and other landscapes switch continuously. Because the southwest region is humid and foggy, driving along the way feels like driving in the clouds!
Mount Everest Road, a highway built specifically for Mount Everest, begins at National Highway 318 and ends at Everest Base Camp. The most famous attraction along this route is the Gawu La Pass, located at an altitude of 5,210 meters. From here, you can overlook four 8,000-meter peaks (from left to right: Makalu, Lhotse, Everest, and Cho Oyu). In this sense, the greatest viewing platform in China is not Niubei Mountain, but the Gawu La Pass.
Standing on a high place and looking down, you can see the winding mountain road circling halfway up the mountain. It is said that there are a total of 108 bends going down from the Jiawula Pass. In addition to the magnificent snow-capped mountain scenery, this road is also a beautiful landscape!
After seeing these road scenes
My heart is already racing on the road...
Which road would you most like to drive?
What other road scenery do you know?
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