The Ultimate Guide to Traveling the Yaxi Highway

Located in southwest China's Sichuan province, the Yaxi Highway is an engineering marvel with 270 viaducts and 25 tunnels.

Yaxi highway

What’s the Yaxi Highway?

Part of the G5 toll highway (the Beijing-Kunming Expressway), the road is totally paved. It’s 240km (149 miles) long, and runs from Ya'an to Xichang, in a mountainous region of southwestern Sichuan Province. When the snow falls - which it does in the winter – things get tough and slippery. The road is a combination of viaducts and tunnels: it is home to 270 viaducts and 25 tunnels (41 km in length).

When was the Yaxi Highway built?

Regarded as a "ladder-like sky road", the road snakes through the spectacular scenery of the area. It’s commonly known as ‘the Skyroad’. The road spans across a highly intense earthquake region. Its construction started in 2007 and opened in April 2012, at a cost of 20.6 billion yuan. The workers had to overcome extraordinary challenges, such as natural gas, water jets, faults and cracks in the rocks.
Road suggested by: jorge manuel gómez sánchez
Pic&video: Jaguar Middle East & North Africa

 

 

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