2,500 Kilometer Expressway Connects Beijing-Xinjiang

JAKARTA - The land transportation route from Beijing to the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of 2,500 kilometers is directly connected to the toll road.

The connection of land transportation infrastructure from the northeast to the northwest of mainland China was realized after the 515-kilometer Wutong Daquan-Mulei toll road began operating this week.

With the opening of the toll road, the route from Beijing to Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, was cut by 1,300 kilometers, local authorities said Saturday.

The Wutong-Daquan section, which is also referred to as the last section of the Beijing-Xinjiang section, consists of two lanes of four lanes each.

The new toll road segment can be passed by vehicles with a maximum speed of 120 kilometers per hour.

The 2,500-kilometer-long expressway passes through Beijing City, Hebei Province, Shanxi Province, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Gansu Province before reaching the Xinjiang Autonomous Region.

Beijing-Xinjiang can also be reached by rail, both fast and regular.

However, there is no direct train schedule that connects the two areas because it takes a very long time to travel.

Passengers have to change trains in Lanzhou City, Gansu Province.

In the last five years, the Chinese government has intensively implemented infrastructure development in Xinjiang, which is the largest province in mainland China.