Roads on the Plateau
China's scenic province of Yunnan is located in the transitional belt between the Indo-China Peninsula and the South Asian subcontinent. It neighbors four provinces and autonomous regions and borders three countries. Since ancient times it has served as an important land gateway linking China with Southeast and South Asia.
Travel was slow in those days, and merchants faced many hazards as they brought their goods to market in this plateau province on China's southwestern frontier. Traders of today suffer no such difficulties. Yunnan has plenty of modern roads, and the Kunming-Bangkok Highway is soon to be completed and opened to traffic. It is expected to inject more vitality into the economic development of Yunnan.
"Great achievements have been made in constructing an international pathway from Yunnan Province to our neighboring countries," says Yang Guangcheng, director of the communications department of Yunnan provincial government. "By the end of 2007, the initial shape of the international pathway in Yunnan will be formed, and the drive time from the provincial capital of Kunming to Bangkok via the Kunming-Bangkok Highway will be just 20 hours. Meanwhile, in the waterways, there are navigation lines from Xishuangbanna to Thailand via the Lancang-Mekong River."
Yunnan is often hailed as the "botanical kingdom," a "paradise for animals," and a "medicinal herb treasure house." But its complicated topography has traditionally made road construction difficult, and many people living in the deep mountains remain isolated from the outside world.
Construction on the first modern highway in Yunnan Province, the Bijiguan-An’ning Highway, began in July 1986. In the two decades that followed, trunk highways were constructed in the mountainous areas around Kunming. From 2003 to 2006, the provincial government invested RMB 90.958 billion in road construction. It spent more than RMB 20 billion on improving communications in 2005, and a further RMB 30 billion last year. By April 2007, 198,500 kilometers of highways had been constructed and opened to traffic, including 1,632 kilometers of expressways.
Highway Construction and Environmental Protection
Roads in Yunnan inevitably run through some farmland areas and have some negative impacts on the natural environment. Thus teams of engineers spent hours devising plans that would minimize any adverse effects. When drawing up these plans, protecting and preserving the ecological environment were their paramount concerns.
The construction of the Simao-Xiaomengyang section of the Kunming-Bangkok Highway is a good example. As a key section of the Kunming-Bangkok Highway, it is one of the three most important vertical trunk roads running through the province, and the only expressway in China that runs through the tropical rainforest region.
More than 37 kilometers run through the Xiaomengyang Nature Reserve, including 4.4 kilometers through the Wild Elephant Valley, an area frequently visited by elephants. To ensure the elephants are undisturbed by the road, the engineers built a bridge over the valley. And while the construction was going on, the elephants took an interest in the builders, and sometimes even wandered up to the worksite in search of food.
Building Roads in the Countryside
Since the time when the first piece of expressway asphalt was laid in Yunnan until now, a sophisticated highway network has been formed in the province. Trunk roads lead to all of its surrounding regions. Now the provincial government is looking at ways to make these roads pay off and bring the maximum economic benefits to the rural people that they serve.
Earlier this year, the Yunnan provincial government held consultations with the local residents and county governments about the development of communications, and discussed with them the different stages of implementation. The county governments are to take responsibility for road construction and maintenance in their respective jurisdictions.
During the 11th Five-Year Plan Period, new roads will lead to all of the villages in the province, and developed areas are to be paved with cement or crushed stones. Some 85 percent of Yunnan’s villages will have bus routes, and a system will be introduced to make sure investment and maintenance is properly managed.
Yunnan boasts rich stone resources, so the local government decided to build more crushed stone roads. This reduces construction costs and requires a lower level of technical skill. Moreover, these roads can be built in an energy-efficient manner, and they are easier to maintain. Prosperity for all of Yunnan’s rural citizens lies just down the road.
