Tibet Highway

Tibet Plateau involves high mountains and waving rivers. Old Tibet's extremely backward communications and transport severely obstructed political, economic and cultural exchanges between Tibet people and hinterland people and bound the development of productive force.
Since the founding of New China, to realize the unification cause, increase national unity and build the southwest border, under the correct leadership and kind care of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, 110,000 Tibetan and Han military and civil road construction workers have fully displayed the dauntless spirit of subjecting high mountains to bow and rivers to stepping aside, made concerted efforts, overcome hardships and dangers, enabled the Sichuan-Tibet and Qinghai-Tibet Highways to open to Lhasa on December 25,1954, thus turning the ancient obstruction to thoroughfare, winding up the non-highway history in Tibet, and turning over a historic chapter in Tibet highway construction.
Tibet highway communications construction has made major headway. Yunnan-Tibet, Xinjiang-Tibet and Sino-Noepal arterial highways have been successively built, and Lhasa-Gonggar, Lhasa-Tsona, Amdo-Shiquanhe and Nagqu-Chamdo regional arterial highways, defense highways and county-township highways have been built since the opening of the Sichuan-Tibet and Qinghai-Tibet Highways. Qinghai-Tibet Highway Golmud-Lhasa section 1,155 kilometers Class 2 bituminous highway reconstruction was completed in 1985. The state has further stepped up investment in Tibet highway construction. Between 1986 and 1988, the state injected over 3 billion yuan in Tibet highway construction. Over 80 engineering construction projects including reconstruction of Sino-Nepal Highway Chusu-Shigatse and Dingsuo section of Nagqu-Qamdo Highway, rectification of Qinghai-Tibet Highway first-phasa and second-phase project, reconstruction of Lhasa-Dazi section on Sichuan-Tibet Highway, beautification of Lhasa-Gonggar Highway, reconstruction of Gongze highway, and reconstruction of Qamdo-Bamda Highway and "one highway and three bridges' reconstruction of Xinjiang-Tibet highway were completed. A preliminary highway network has initially taken shape, with Lhasa as the center, the national trunk highways of Qinghai-Tibet, Sichuan-Tibet, Yunnan-Tibet, Xinjinag-Tibet and Nagqu-Qamdo as the backbone, interconnection of regional highways, county-township highways and defense highways, radiating the whole region. The network contains five national trunk highways of 5,553 kilometers, fourteen 5,434 kilometers regional highways, twenty 3,654 kilometers county highways, fifty-seven 5,410 kilometers township highway, ninety-seven 2,35e kilometers defense highways, and twelve 2,403 kilometers accommodation highways. Highway bridges amount to 948 with 39,023 meters. The regional highway open mileage stands at 24,808 kilometers, up 17,465 kilometers from the year 1959. Except for Nyari and Qamdo prefectures, the remaining four prefectures and one city are interconnected with black pavement. Highways undertake 94% tasks of inbound and exbound passenger and goods transport and over 98% of regional passenger and goods transport. Highways are the pulse of Tibet economy, so they are dubbed by Tibet people as rainbows and golden bridges.