As the world’s third-largest country by area, China has often had to get creative with transportation infrastructure. The Shanghai Maglev is the fastest train in the world, with a maximum speed of 268 mph. At 102.4 miles, the Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge is the longest bridge in the world. And Beijing Daxing Airport is among the world’s biggest international airports. The Ya’an-Xichang Expressway, also known as Yaxi Highway, doesn’t have any superlatives of that sort to its name, but it is a marvel of engineering all the same. Here’s why.
The Ascent
Located in Sichuan, a mountainous province in southwestern China, the “Skyroad” (as it’s known) connects the cities of Ya’an and Xichang as part of the Beijing-Kunming Expressway. The only way out of the province is through mountains, so the expressway gradually increases its elevation at a rate of nearly 50 feet per mile.
For 149 miles, the road goes through an area that rises from 1,970 feet to 10,500 feet above sea level — which means that, at certain points, you will indeed be living up to the highway’s nickname and driving through the clouds. It’s also full of tunnels and viaducts: 25 miles’ worth of the former, 270 of the latter. Much of the surrounding terrain is perilous, including 12 seismic fault zones. All told, the Skyroad cost 20.6 billion yuan (about $3.3 billion USD) to construct between 2007 and 2012 — it’s been dubbed the “most difficult” motorway ever built.
Even watching a video of the Yaxi Highway will make some prospective travelers nervous. Its guardrails are structurally sound and perfectly safe, but the thought of driving hundreds of feet above the ground might make your palms sweat — especially when you reach the Ganhaizi Bridge. The world’s first reinforced concrete truss bridge, it’s situated at an altitude of 8,200 feet and stretches 5,940 feet long by 82 feet wide.
Visit Vicariously
If you don’t suffer from acrophobia but also don’t have plans to visit China anytime soon, you can watch a three-hour video of the entire drive captured in 4K. It offers a sense of the toll gates, lush scenery, and dizzying heights of the Yaxi — most of which has little traffic. The long tunnels aren’t especially scenic, but much of the drive is surprisingly pleasant, with the elevation increasing gradually enough to not cause any nosebleeds.
As of 2023, China’s expressway network had reached a total length of 114,083 miles. Its overall road network has grown at a rapid rate since the turn of the century and currently ranks third in the world behind America and India, with Russia and Brazil rounding out the top five. Despite this impressive growth, China isn’t yet home to one of the top 10 longest highways in the world, but that could easily change in the coming years.
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