Road access to all Tibetan townships by the end of 2107
The road project for the last two townships in Tibet of China without road access starting in 2015 is expected to be completed by the end of 2017, meaning that there will be road access to all townships in Tibet.
The two townships are Jialasa and Gade in Medog County of Nyingchi City. Here, the geological conditions are complex with high mountains and deep valleys, leading to high road construction costs and long construction periods.
According to reports, Tibet will complete investment in fixed assets of 52 billion yuan in 2017 and strive to newly build 355km of high-grade highway, leading to a total highway traffic mileage of more than 90,000km.
Medog County, with average altitude of 1200 meters and minimum altitude of 115 meters, is located in southeast Tibet, downstream of the Yarlung Zangbo River.
Medog means “flower” in Tibetan and the locals refer to it as the “secret Lotus”.
Located south of the Himalayan mountains, it is known as the “plateau’s isolated island” due to the high mountains, deep valleys and isolated roads.
At the end of October 2013, the Medog Highway officially opened to the public, the county waved goodbye to “China’s last county without road access”.