China’s Most Beautiful Highway Reopens for the Summer Season
The Duku Highway, widely celebrated as China’s most beautiful road, officially reopened to tourists on June 1, 2026, marking the start of its four-month seasonal operating window. The 561-kilometer route through the Tianshan Mountains offers travelers a breathtaking journey through landscapes ranging from snow-capped peaks and alpine meadows to red-rock canyons and vast Gobi desert — all in a single day’s drive.
A Seasonal Spectacle
Known for its “One Day, Four Seasons” experience, the Duku Highway runs from Dushanzi in northern Xinjiang to Kuche in the south, traversing the spine of the Tianshan Mountains. Due to heavy winter snowfall, ice, avalanches, and rockfall hazards, the highway operates only from June to October each year. According to CCTV News, the 2026 reopening on June 1 is slightly earlier than in previous years, with the opening ceremony held in Bayinbuluke Town, Hejing County.
On reopening day, hundreds of RVs, off-road vehicles, and motorcycles departed from the ceremony site as the highway opened simultaneously across seven counties and cities spanning five prefectures, including Dushanzi, Wusu, and Kuche.
The “Hero Road” Legacy
The Duku Highway is more than a scenic route — it is a monument to human sacrifice and engineering perseverance. Built between 1974 and 1984 by tens of thousands of soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army Engineering Corps, the highway was constructed as a strategic national defense road connecting northern and southern Xinjiang. Before its construction, travel between the two regions required a detour of over 1,000 kilometers. The highway reduced this distance by nearly half.
The road earned its nickname “Hero Road” because 168 soldiers lost their lives during construction due to avalanches, landslides, and blizzards. The Qiaoerma Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery now honors these fallen soldiers and serves as a patriotic education site along the route. As QQ News noted, the highway’s brief four-month operating window makes its summer scenery all the more precious.
New for 2026: Safety Upgrades and a Sister Expressway
This year brings significant changes for travelers. The most notable development is the construction of the Kuiduku Expressway, a high-standard, all-weather parallel route running from Kuytun to Kuche. Expected to be completed by 2032, this “sister highway” will reduce travel time from 14 hours to approximately four hours and enable year-round通行. During construction, a “daytime travel, nighttime construction” management model has been implemented for overlapping sections.
Safety has also been enhanced for the 2026 season. According to CCTV News, 10 new emergency supply stations have been added along the highway, equipped with personnel, equipment, and supplies. Special early warning mechanisms have been established for different road sections and disaster types, addressing the unique challenges posed by the highway’s high-altitude mountain terrain and unpredictable weather.
Surging Tourism Demand
The Duku Highway has become one of China’s most iconic road trip destinations, and visitor numbers reflect its growing popularity. Data from the Xinjiang Transportation Department shows that the highway recorded 6.86 million visitor trips in 2023, growing to 7.07 million in 2025. Demand in 2026 is expected to be even higher, driven by the route’s inclusion in a broader network of scenic drives across Xinjiang, including S101, the Ahe Highway, and the Wuyu Expressway.
Inner Mongolia News reported that this year’s reopening ceremony saw hundreds of vehicles depart from Bayinbuluke Town, with drivers from across China — including Sichuan, Shanghai, and Guangdong — gathering to experience the legendary route.
A Journey Through Four Seasons
Starting from Dushanzi, travelers first encounter deep canyon gullies with magnificent scale. Continuing south, the road crosses the Hashilegen Daban, a mountain pass covered in year-round snow, before arriving at Qiaoerma. Further south, the lush Nalati Grassland unfolds, followed by the Bayinbuluke Grassland, famous for the “Nine Bends and Eighteen Turns” of the Kaidu River. After crossing the Tielimaiti Daban, the landscape shifts to the dramatic red-rock formations of the Kuche Grand Canyon at the southern terminus.
As Gamersky noted, the highway is celebrated for allowing travelers to experience diverse landforms in a single journey — “as if traveling through a scroll painting of the four seasons.”
What to Watch For
With the Kuiduku Expressway under construction and visitor numbers continuing to climb, the Duku Highway’s role in Xinjiang’s tourism economy is set to expand significantly. The challenge for authorities will be managing the growing crowds while preserving the highway’s unique appeal. For now, the 2026 season offers travelers a chance to experience one of China’s most extraordinary roads before the transformation to all-weather expressway access begins.