A 389-kilometer highway featuring the highest road tunnel in the world opened to traffic in northwest China’s Qinghai Province on Monday, in the culmination of a massive construction project made difficult by altitude, extreme cold and a fragile ecosystem. /Chinanews Photo

It took four years to build the Huashixia-Jiuzhi Expressway, also known as the Hua-Jiu Highway, and engineers had to come up with creative designs and solutions for the mountainous Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture’s first such road. The highway has an average altitude of 4,000 meters. /Chinanews Photo

The road journey between Huashixia and Jigzhi counties is reduced by 400 kilometers, and the drive is shortened from about 12 hours to five hours. /Chinanews Photo