China National Highway 217 (G217) runs south from

Altay Altai or Altay may refer to: Places *Altai Mountains, in Central and East Asia, a region shared by China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan and Russia In China *Altay Prefecture (阿勒泰地区), Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China *Altay City (阿勒� ...

Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

Hotan Hotan (also known by other names) is a major oasis town in southwestern Xinjiang, an autonomous region in Northwestern China. The city proper of Hotan broke off from the larger Hotan County to become an administrative area in its own right i ...

. It is 1,753 kilometres in length and runs southwest from

towards

Kuqa County Kuqa ( ) is a county-level city in Aksu Prefecture, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China. It was once the homeland of the ancient Buddhist Kingdom of Kucha. History The archaeological excavation of Neolithic cultural sites, such as the ( z ...

and from there southwards through the

Taklamakan Desert The Taklamakan Desert ( ) is a desert in northwest China's Xinjiang region. Located inside the Tarim Basin in Southern Xinjiang, it is bounded by the Kunlun Mountains to the south, the Pamir Mountains to the west, the Tian Shan range to the ...

. The highly scenic mountainous section between Dushanzi and Kuqa that crosses the

Tianshan Mountains The Tian Shan, also known as the Tengri Tagh or Tengir-Too, meaning the "Mountains of God/Heaven", is a large system of mountain ranges in Central Asia. The highest peak is Jengish Chokusu at high and located in Kyrgyzstan. Its lowest point is ...

is commonly known as Duku Highway (独库公路). A section of Duku Highway also crosses the

Bayanbulak Grassland National Nature Reserve Bayanbulak Grassland National Nature Reserve () (from Mongolian "abundant spring") is the second largest grassland in China, located in the Bayanbulak Basin of the Tian Shan mountains in northwest China. The terrain is mostly flat, and encompas ...

Route and distance

Mountain Passes

From North to South: * Haxilegen Pass, bypassed by tunnel. 3450 meters above the sea level. * Yuximole Pass, bypassed by tunnel. 3438 meters above the sea level. * Laerdun Pass. 2730 meters above the sea level. * Tielimaiti Pass. bypassed by tunnel. 3335 meters above the sea level.

References

External links

Official website of Ministry of Transport of PRC

217 Year 217 ( CCXVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Praesens and Extricatus (or, less frequently, year 970 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 217 for ...

Transport in Xinjiang {{PRChina-road-stub

Route and distance

Mountain Passes

See also

References

External links