Duku Highway photo:VCG

Known to the public as "China's most beautiful road," the Duku Highway in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has welcomed thousands of travelers with its stunning alternating lush grasslands and icy landscapes since it reopened on Sunday.

According to a notice from the Karamay police's official WeChat account on Monday, at least 10,000 cars filled mostly with tourists have passed the toll gate in Karamay's Dushanzi district, the northern starting point of the Duku Highway in Xinjiang, while countless visitors wait to launch their own road trips.

Running from the Dushanzi toll gate to Kuqa county in the southern part of the region, the Duku Highway had been shut down since October. The highway is usually covered by snow and ice for half of the year as most of it is 2,000 meters above sea level. For safety reasons, the highway is closed during these times and usually reopens in June.

Local police in the region kicked off a livestream that switched between four different locations along the 560-kilometer road allow viewers to appreciate the various landscapes, including groves, glaciers and grasslands, along the highway. More than 800,000 viewers tuned in to watch the six-hour livestream.

Travelers received a warm welcome that included free snacks and drinks like slices of watermelon and bottled water at rest stops along the highway, according to the report.

The news excited netizens, some of whom said they have locked in a trip along the highway as one of their bucket-list tours. "I've been there during the summer, the lakes there were like emeralds," read one comment on Sina Weibo.

Looking online, many travel enthusiasts began preparing for their road trips in early 2021, searching various online platforms for traveling companions. As early as April, many netizens began posting on Baidu Tieba, a platform known for its virtual forums, to prepare for trips in July.

Aerial photo taken on June 20, 2021 shows the scenery along Duku Highway in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Duku Highway, deemed one of China's most beautiful roads, recently opened to tourists after completing its yearly "hibernation." The 560-km highway, connecting Dushanzi in the northern area of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Kuqa County in the south, runs through various landscapes including glaciers, forests, and grasslands.(Photo: Xinhua)

The highway is a big draw for cyclists as well. An employee with 517 Cycling Post, a travel company providing cycling services, told the Global Times that tourists who want to experience the highway by bike can take public transport to the Dushanzi district and rent bikes there. 

"It normally takes six to eight days for a person to finish the whole route," said the employee, " but of course it depends on one's physical fitness."

Prior to the construction of the Duku Highway, traveling from north to south meant driving down more than 1,000 kilometers of road. Now with the highway, passing through deep river valleys and connecting many ethnic minority areas throughout Xinjiang, that distance has been cut in nearly half.