Second expressway linking Xinjiang with Beijing opens

China's second expressway linking Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region with Beijing opened on June 30 as the fastest passage to link the northeastern, northern and northwestern parts of the nation.

The 2,822-kilometer Beijing-Xinjiang expressway passes six provincial regions, including the capital, Hebei, Shanxi and Gansu provinces, and the Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous regions.

Compared with the first expressway linking Urumqi and Beijing, the new route cuts 1,300 km of required road travel between the two cities.

As the world's longest desert-crossing expressway, more than 500 km of the road passes through unpopulated deserts, which posed challenges during construction.