Self-driving D20 in Xinjiang and Tibet, Duku Highway

On the last day of June, I finally drove on the long-awaited Duku Highway. It's from Kuqa.

We started early from Aksukule, passed through Wensu-Baicheng-Kuqa, and got on the Duku Highway at 4 pm. We didn’t see the signs of the starting and ending points because we were a few kilometers outside Kuqa. Turn onto Provincial Highway 307.

There is nothing magical about the first few dozen kilometers on the Kuqa section of the Duku Highway. Just like the landscape of more than a thousand kilometers in Aksu, southern Xinjiang, the withered and yellow Gobi Desert stretches as far as the eye can see, and the mountains without grass stretch for thousands of miles, majestic But desolate. When we arrived at the Danxia Geopark in the Tianshan Grand Canyon, it was still a barren land, with an altitude of 1,500 meters. At six o'clock, the sun was still shining brightly and it was hot, so I decided to continue walking dozens of kilometers to stay in Longchi.

After turning the hairpin to the top of Longchi Mountain, the long-awaited green appeared, and the vegetation gradually became lush. This is the scene of northern Xinjiang.

At nine o'clock in the evening, the sky became overcast and it started to rain. I looked at the altimeter and saw that it was 2,500 meters and the weather was getting cooler. Stay in Longchi tonight.

Duku Highway is National Highway 217, which refers to the section from Dushanzi to Kuqa. It starts from Dushanzi District, Karamay City in the north, runs through the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains, and connects Kuqa City in Aksu Prefecture at the south end, with a total length of 561 kilometers. Since more than half of it stretches across lofty mountains, deep valleys, and connects many ethnic minority settlements, it was selected as the “Landscape Avenue Running Through the Backbone of the Tianshan Mountains” by China National Geographic.

The Duku Highway was completed and opened to traffic in 1983, shortening the distance between southern and northern Xinjiang by half from more than 1,000 kilometers. In order to build this highway, tens of thousands of officers and soldiers worked hard for 10 years and 168 road builders Gave up his precious life.

The Duku Highway has special terrain, with many sharp bends and steep slopes. More than 280 kilometers of the road section are above 2,000 meters above sea level. Affected by natural factors such as snowfall and ice in the Tianshan Mountains in winter, it is only open five months a year. , winter traffic control will be implemented for 7 months from the end of September to May of the following year.

On June 10, 2022, the Duku Highway, known as "The Most Beautiful Highway in China", was reopened to traffic. I set off from Suizhou, Hubei Province on June 11, the next day, and drove to Tibet and Xinjiang. My biggest wish was to drive on the Duku Highway. Today, June 30, is the 20th day of self-driving. I am lucky enough to start driving on the Duku Highway. I am very happy. The 561-kilometer Duku road has been covered for more than a hundred kilometers today. Tomorrow, we will drive slowly and enjoy it slowly.

Breakfast was in Wensu, and the mutton buns were only one yuan each. Lunch was in Kuqa, and a bowl of beef noodles was 12 yuan. My wife said it was really cheap and tasted good.

Longchi on the Aksu-Wensu-Baicheng-Kuqa-Duku Highway, a journey of 380 kilometers. Overnight in Longchi.