Shiliuyun-Xinjiang Daily (Reporter Lu Fengbao) news: Three enormous mountain ranges sandwich two basins, creating Xinjiang's unique geographical feature. The recently opened G0711 Urumqi-Yuli Expressway fills in the last "piece of the puzzle" for the most convenient expressway connecting northern and southern Xinjiang. It links the three mountain ranges, spans the two basins, and together forms the fastest expressway corridor stretching from the Altai Mountains in the north to the Kunlun Mountains in the south.

Photo shows the Urumqi-Yuli Expressway winds its way through the mountains. (Photo provided by China Communications Construction Xinjiang Transportation Investment and Development Co, Ltd.)

If viewed from the sky, Xinjiang's topography appears particularly unique, with three enormous mountain ranges sandwiching two basins. Starting from the north, there are the Altai Mountains, followed by the Junggar Basin. Running horizontally across the middle is the east-west oriented Tianshan Mountains, with the Tarim Basin to the south, and at the southernmost tip stands the majestic Kunlun Mountains.

Over thousands of years, the various ethnic groups in Xinjiang have explored numerous routes around these three mountain ranges and two basins, such as the Cheshi Ancient Road, Wusun Ancient Road, and Xiata Ancient Road, among others.

Building highways in these basins is an arduous task, given that the Junggar Basin harbors the Gurbantunggut Desert, while the Tarim Basin is dominated by the Taklimakan Desert—renowned as the world's second-largest shifting desert.

After the founding of New China, Xinjiang constructed highways that traverse both basins, such as the Fuyun-Wucaiwan section of National Highway 216, which cuts through the Gurbantunggut Desert, and several desert highways that penetrate the Taklimakan Desert. Additionally, high-grade highways have been built along the edges of the basins, exemplified by the Turpan-Urumqi-Dahuangshan High-Grade Highway.

Nowadays, expressways (first-class highways) have encircled both the Junggar Basin and the Tarim Basin. However, due to the formidable Tianshan Mountains, a fast expressway link connecting the two basins has long remained elusive. For residents living along the edge of the Junggar Basin traveling to areas in the Tarim Basin, the ordinary highways are in poor condition and often impassable during winter due to snow and ice. The only expressway connecting southern and northern Xinjiang is the G3012 Turpan-Hotan Expressway, but it involves a relatively long detour.

Xinjiang accounts for approximately one-sixth of China's total land area, stretching about 2,000 kilometers from east to west and up to 1,600 kilometers from north to south. In such a vast expanse, expressway connectivity is even more crucial.

In fact, the state has long been planning to construct fast expressway routes that traverse the Tianshan Mountains and connect the "three mountain ranges and two basins" in Xinjiang, with not just one such route envisioned.

With the successive completion of the G0711 Korla-Ruoqiang Expressway, the S21 Altay-Urumqi Expressway, and the G3003 Urumqi Ring Expressway (West Section), the only remaining vertical expressway corridor linking northern and southern Xinjiang is the segment from Urumqi to Korla, which is part of the Urumqi-Yuli Expressway (also known as the Wuyu Expressway).

After more than five years of construction, the 324.7-kilometer-long Urumqi-Yuli Expressway has opened to traffic. Now, traveling from Altay to southern Xinjiang can be accomplished entirely via expressway. In Korla, one can head west via the Turpan-Hotan Expressway to reach Hotan or go south via the G0711 Korla-Ruoqiang section to arrive in Ruoqiang, forming the most efficient expressway corridor connecting the "three mountain ranges" and "two basins."

Moreover, the construction of the G3033 Kuitun-Dushanzi-Kuqa Expressway commenced this year, while the G219 Wenquan-Horgos and Zhaosu-Wensu highways are under accelerated construction. Once all these projects are completed, they will serve as additional north-south expressway corridors alongside the Urumqi-Yuli Expressway, further increasing the number of major highway links and enhancing connectivity between the "three mountain ranges" and "two basins."

Over a century ago, Dr. Sun Yat-sen outlined a grand vision in his "The International Development of China": to construct a major thoroughfare leading to Xinjiang, stretching eastward from Peking (Beijing), passing through Alxa, and reaching Dihua (Urumqi) in the west.

This vision has been realized in the new era, and even surpassed, with the establishment of a vast expressway network that traverses east-west and runs north-south among the Altai, Tianshan, and Kunlun mountains.

Natural barriers have been overcome, and open roads lead toward the future, as the ancient Silk Road bursts with robust vitality in the new era.

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