Expressway traversing north, south Xinjiang opens to traffic

After over five years of construction, the Urumqi-Yuli Expressway that traverses the Tianshan Mountains in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region opened to traffic on Friday, cutting the time of driving from the southern to the northern parts of the towering mountains by half.

With a total length of 22.13 kilometers, the Tianshan Shengli Tunnel is the world’s longest expressway tunnel, and has the deepest highway shaft worldwide, creating two world records. The operation of the expressway will further consolidate Xinjiang’s role as a strategic hub in the ‘dual circulation’ of domestic and international markets”.