Yunnan-Xizang Highway: Highway to Prosperity
Today, we’ll talk about how an important transport artery from Yunnan Province to Xizang Autonomous Region, following old trade routes, relieved social and economic isolation in one of the most scenic but impoverished parts of Southwest China.
Yunnan-Xizang Highway: Highway to Prosperity
Today, we’ll talk about how an important transport artery from Yunnan Province to Xizang Autonomous Region, following old trade routes, relieved social and economic isolation in one of the most scenic but impoverished parts of Southwest China.
On July 6, 2026, the Yunnan Xizang Highway marks its 50th anniversary.
Stretching over 700 kilometers, the highway begins in Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, before winding its way north through the tourist hub of Lijiang, then Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, before crossing to Markam County in Chamdo, Xizang Autonomous Region, and finally connecting to the Sichuan-Xizang Highway to continue west to Lhasa.
It was the first highway to breach the barrier of the Hengduan Mountains. For half a century, it has served as both a mirror and a chronicle, reflecting and recording every step of the snowy plateau’s journey from isolation to openness, from backwardness to modernity.
To understand the Yunnan-Xizang Highway, one must first understand the Hengduan Mountains. As a young mountain range on the southeastern edge of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, the Hengduan Mountains resemble enormous folds formed by the collision of the Eurasian and Indian Ocean plates.
Unlike the east-west mountain ranges of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, the Hengduan Mountains are comprised of seven parallel north-south mountain ranges traversed by six giant rivers, including the Jinsha, which is known as the Yangtze upstream, the Lancang (or Mekong) and the Nujiang (or Salween) rivers. These rivers cut through the plateau to form deep canyons. Traveling along the Yunnan-Xizang Highway, one can pass through four seasons and multiple climate zones in a single journey.
The Hengduan Mountains stand as a natural shield, dividing east from west and north from south. Yet the exchanges, interactions and integration among the Han, Tibetan, Bai, Yi, Naxi, Lisu and other ethnic groups living on both sides of the range have never ceased, despite the formidable obstruction of the “Great Hengduan.”
From the Neolithic Age until the advent of modern transportation, the ancestors of these ethnic groups, driven by the need for survival and development, engaged in trade and exchange. They traveled from valley to valley and village to village, step by step forging mountain paths that eventually became a dense network of ancient trade routes known as the Tea Horse Road, a famous artery of pre-modern logistics.
The Yunnan-Xizang Tea Horse Road emerged as early as the Tang Dynasty, which lasted from 618 to 907. Starting from Dali, it passed through Lijiang and the city now known as Shangri-La, entered Xizang, and eventually reached Lhasa. Caravans of muleteers, loaded with tea and ironware, traveled northward, returning with horses and medicinal herbs, a round trip that often took more than half a year.
The route not only connected Yunnan and Xizang but also extended to Bhutan, Nepal and India. Wang Qiang, a guide at the Diqing Shangri-La Tea Horse Road Museum, told The Context that: “For survival and for profit, the caravan traders risked their lives at every turn. Wind, frost, rain and snow were constant companions and rockfalls and landslides were ever-present threats.”
Poisonous plants and contaminated water lurked by the roadside, while wild beasts and venomous creatures hid in the dense forests, and plague and disease drifted silently through the crowds. Even more deadly were the bandits lying in ambush at mountain passes and defiles. Though every caravan member was armed and vigilant, they still fell prey to attacks and robberies. Loss of life and goods were all too common.”
It was these caravans, traversing the snowy river valleys, through the most ancient and resilient means of transport, relying on the bond between humans and animals, that wove the destinies of the people of Yunnan and Xizang together over a thousand years. Their efforts were both fragile and heroic. However, the Yunnan-Xizang Tea Horse Road served only merchants and travelers in its time and the vast majority of people remained trapped within the Hengduan Mountains, living in near total isolation.
Le’an Wangdu, former deputy director of the Diqing Tibetology Institute, noted that prolonged isolation delayed social development. Until around 1950, most areas of the Hengduan Mountains still operated under small-scale primitive commune systems, feudal landlord systems or feudal serfdom. He said: “In Foshan Township and Yunling Township in Deqin County, today’s Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, land, livestock and other means of production were controlled by chieftains, landlords and monastery monks who made up only about 4 percent of the population. The remaining 96 percent owned little or no land and were forced to rent plots for farming or live as slaves.”
In August 1950, to secure the southwestern border, strengthen ethnic unity and open a development corridor between Yunnan and Xizang, the newly established People’s Republic of China decided to build a highway from Yunnan into Xizang.
It was an arduous task. The road had to cut through the primeval forests of the Hengduan Mountains, cross the Jinsha and Lancang rivers, and traverse snowcapped peaks at elevations exceeding 4,300 meters.
Wang Xuezhong, a retired employee of Diqing Highway Bureau, said: “More than a dozen ethnic groups, Han, Bai, Yi, Tibetan and others joined in the effort, forming a construction force of over 5,500 people. At that time, conditions were poor and technical know-how was limited. The road was dug out meter by meter with picks and hoes. We had no fixed homes, we lived wherever the road took us, often staying in the mountains for months at a time.”
He added that “People from local communities told us, ‘This road was built by you, and salt was brought in by you. We Tibetan people are deeply thankful for you.’” Due to the harsh conditions, including high-altitude cold, lack of oxygen, material shortages, treacherous terrain and shortage of medical care, combined with bandit uprisings and other difficulties, more than 300 builders sacrificed their lives on the snowy plateau. They now lie in three highway martyrs’ cemeteries in Diqing and Markam.
On July 6, 1976, the Yunnan-Xizang Highway which was built almost exactly along the route of the ancient Tea Horse Road, was opened to traffic. It became the fourth major highway linking China’s interior to Xizang, following the Sichuan-Xizang, Qinghai-Xizang and Xinjiang-Xizang highways. The thousand-year isolation of the Hengduan Mountains was finally broken by a single road which brought local communities to the modern world.
Before the highway opened, modernization in Diqing was virtually non-existent. After its completion, Diqing quickly established modern industries, including agricultural machinery plants, asbestos factories and power plants, as well as radio broadcasting stations. The feudal landlord and serfdom systems that had persisted for centuries were phased out around 1959.
After the Yunnan-Xizang Highway opened, more modern routes continued to be carved through the Hengduan Mountains. Construction of the Nujiang section of the Yunnan-Xizang Highway also began in the 1950s. Originating in Dali Prefecture, it passes through Baoshan City and Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture before ending at Zayu County in Xizang. Over nearly six decades, the section underwent continuous upgrades and expansions until it was fully connected in 2011, with a total length of 786 kilometers.
In recent years, the deep interiors of the Hengduan Mountains have seen the completion of a 332-kilometer expressway and a 304-kilometer railway connecting Dali and Diqing. Driving time between the two cities has been reduced to just 3 and a half hours, while the high-speed train takes only three hours. Three airports capable of handling large aircraft are now located along the Yunnan-Xizang Highway in Dali, Lijiang and Shangri-La.
What was once a single corridor has grown into a vast network. Towns and villages inhabited by Han, Bai, Yi, Naxi, Tibetan, Lisu and other ethnic groups are now linked together, developing in harmony at different altitudes. In areas once plagued by material scarcity and educational backwardness, the rise of cultural tourism, the smooth pursuit of education by students and the boost in freight transportation have brought new prosperity, transforming the lives of countless people.ê
Well, that’s the end of our podcast. Our theme music is by the famous film score composer Roc Chen. We want to thank our writers Wang Lin and Miao Chao, translator Chen Jing, and copy editor JT. And thank you for listening. We hope you enjoyed it, and if you did, please tell a friend so they, too, can understand The Context.