An aerial drone photo shows an exterior view of Tianshan Shengli Tunnel on Urumqi-Yuli Expressway in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Dec. 26, 2025. (Xinhua/Hu Huhu)
URUMQI, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) — The 22.13-km Tianshan Shengli Tunnel, the world’s longest expressway tunnel, officially opened to traffic on Friday.
Traversing the central Tianshan Mountains in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the tunnel slashes what was once a several-hour mountain drive to just 20 minutes.
As a vital artery linking city clusters in northern and southern Xinjiang, the G0711 Urumqi-Yuli Expressway, including the tunnel, entered operation on the same day.
Stretching 2,500 kilometers, the Tianshan Mountains span central Xinjiang, separating Urumqi, the largest city in the north, from Korla, the largest city in the south. With the opening of the expressway, travel time between these two major cities is reduced from 7 hours to approximately 3 hours, promoting economic integration between northern and southern Xinjiang and creating new channels for external exchanges.
The expressway, constructed over five years, spans 324.7 kilometers with a total investment of 46.7 billion yuan (about 6.63 billion U.S. dollars).
The tunnel’s construction saw world-class challenges due to its extraordinary scale. It spans 22.13 kilometers, reaches a maximum burial depth of 1,112.2 meters, crosses 16 geological fault zones and faces five major difficulties — high ground stress, high seismic intensity, stringent environmental requirements, extreme cold and high altitude. ■
