A Most Tricky Scenic Drive to Shengli Daban
Shengli Daban (Victory Pass) is a high mountain pass at an elevation of 4.091m (13,421ft) above the sea level, located in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China in Northwest China.
The road to the summit is called 216 National Road. It’s mostly paved but narrow with countless hairpin turns. The pass is the highest point in the Tian Shan (The Mountains of Heaven). The road is extremely steep, especially starting atÜrümqi, a city at 850 m above the sea level. It climbs steadily up for 140 km to the pass at roughly about 4,100 meters (although officially it is rated 4,280 m). The last part of the climb is awesome. It’s a steep wall on which the road winds up in a never ending zigzag. The road has relatively little traffic, and the scenery is spectacular - with gorges, glaciers and high peaks. The road to the summit is being bypassed by the Tianshan Shengli tunnel, with a total length of about 22 kilometers. It’s currently the longest highway tunnel under construction in China. Started in 2020, the tunnel, a six-year project on the Urumqi-Yuli highway, passes through a cold and high altitude zone, with harsh climate and geological condition. After completion and opened to traffic, it will provide safer and more convenient travel to the passengers and promote local economic and social development.
Road suggested by: Hugh Wilson
Pic&more info: http://www.holubec.wbs.cz/Central-Asia--Tian-Shan_-Borohoro.html