Self-driving Tour to Tibet - Sichuan-Tibet Highway

The construction history of the famous Sichuan-Tibet Highway could be dated back to 1930s. Sichuan-Tibet Highway is one of the most difficult projects in the road construction history of China. It starts from Chengdu and divided into two routes after get to Xinduqiao Town via Ya'an City and Kangding County. The southern and northern routes merge into one at Bangda in Tibet and finally heading to Lhasa. The northern route of Sichuan-Tibet Highway enjoys a total length of 2412 kilometers while the southern route enjoys a total length of 2149 meters.

Self-driving Tour to Tibet – Construction History of Sichuan-Tibet Highway

The construction of the northern route of Sichuan-Tibet Highway was started in early 1950s. It spent more than 4 years to complete the brief construction of this route. In 1958, the northern route of was opened to traffic in 1958. Compared to the southern route, the construction of the northern route encountered less difficulties since the topography along the southern route is much more complicated. After the operation of Sichuan-Tibet Highway, the vehicles heading to Lhasa don't have to make a detour via Lanzhou and Xining. The economical communication between Tibet and Sichuan Province was greatly enhanced.

Before the construction of Sichuan-Tibet Highway, there is no highway in Tibet which covers an area of more than 1.2 million square kilometers. Sichuan-Tibet Highway greatly changed the transportation in Tibet. In earlier times, this highway was not paved at all or only paved by gravels. The road condition of this highway keeps improving with the increasing of the vehicles running between Sichuan Province and Tibet Autonomous Region. Some safe tunnels were dug to shorten the journey. For instance, it takes about one week to finish the 1300 kilometers between Chengdu and Qamdo in 1980s and now it only takes about 2.5 days to finish the same journey.

Self-driving Tour to Tibet – Road Condition of Sichuan-Tibet Highway

Sichuan-Tibet Highway is one of the most dangerous and challenging highways to Tibet. It attracts a large number of tourists interested in adventure with its amazing natural landscapes. Tourists making a self-driving tour to Tibet along the Sichuan-Tibet Highway would find that most sections of this highway are dumpy road covered with gravels. The complicated natural environment and severe climate condition made the Sichuan-Tibet Highway more challenging. Sichuan-Tibet Highway stretches across the Hengduan Mountains and the debris flow happens frequently in the rainy season. In winter, some of the sections might blocked by the heavy snow. The poor board and lodging condition along this highway also threatens a large number of self-driving tourists. For the consideration of safety, tourists making a self-driving tour to Tibet the first time are not advised to choose the dangerous Sichuan-Tibet Highway and the Qinghai-Tibet Highway with good road condition would be a better choice.

The construction of Sichuan-Tibet Highway provides the basic facility for the economical development along the highway and living standard upgrade of the residents living along the highway. The section of Sichuan-Tibet in Bome in Nyingchi Prefecture is the most beautiful section. Tourists making a Tibet tour along the Sichuan-Tibet Highway could also take a stop at Nyingchi for sightseeing.