I stayed up all night to organize the 2024 Duku Highway travel guide, the super detailed kind
🌈 Duku Highway, also known as National Highway 217 from Dushanzi to Kuqa, connects southern and northern Xinjiang, traverses the Tianshan Mountains, and is also known as the Tianshan Highway. The entire journey is 561 kilometers long and requires crossing over 4 mountain passes. Here, you can experience all four seasons in one day, and every ten miles offers a different sky. The scenery is primitive and stunning! It has been selected by 'National Geographic' as a 'scenic avenue that traverses the spine of the Tianshan Mountains,' especially the southern section's Big and Small Dragon Pools, which are like two crystal-clear gems, delighting the heart and refreshing the mind! The canyon's landforms are like stepping into a magical and different world, mysterious and shocking!
💥Must-visit attractions
✅Tianshan Mysterious Grand Canyon: A bright pearl on the ancient Silk Road! It combines the beauty of earthly canyons and the uniqueness of Tianshan's scenery, embodying the spirit of eternity, and integrating the divine, the strange, the dangerous, the majestic, the ancient, and the secluded into one, like a magical different world.
✅Naraty Grassland: One of the top ten scenic areas in Xinjiang and also one of the four great grasslands in the world. It encompasses snow-capped mountains, grasslands, valleys, and forests, with a high vegetation coverage rate and rich wildlife resources. Its 'sky grassland' is the most classic.
✅Qiaojia Hero Monument: A red base, the Heroic Tianshan Road was built to commemorate the 168 revolutionary martyrs who sacrificed themselves for the construction of the Duku Highway and is a national revolutionary martyrs' cemetery.
✅Bayinbuluke: China's second-largest grassland, with lush water and grass, was a filming location for the movie 'Pegasus'. Not only does it have the 'Nine Curves and Eighteen Bends' of the Kaidu River, but also the elegant and charming Swan Lake. With luck, you can see swans. When you stand on the mountaintop by Swan Lake at sunset, and the sun shoots thousands of rays of light through the clouds onto the grassland, you can see the winding Kaidu River reflecting the nine suns shot down by Hou Yi, which is very magical.
✅Tangbula Grassland: A natural scenic area that combines forests, grasslands, rapids, and mountainous beauty, and was a filming location for 'Flowers of the Tianshan'. Its Fairy Lake is a popular internet spot, and the ancient Mengketu Trail to the north is also worth a visit.
✅Dushanzi Grand Canyon: Known as the 'Duku secret realm, a billion-year spectacle,' it has been featured in National Geographic as the most beautiful highway in the country and is the number one scenic spot on the Duku Highway. It was also a filming location for the TV series 'Novoland: The Castle in the Sky' and the movie 'Pegasus'.
🔴‼️To fully experience the beauty of Duku, cycling is the best strategy
D1 Departure point - Dushanzi Town, warm-up cycling for 5 kilometers
D2 Dushanzi Town - Wulansadak (Silk Road Station 639), cycling for 85 kilometers
D3 Wulansadak - Hashilegendaban - Hundred Mile Gallery - Qiaojia, cycling for 86 kilometers
D4 Qiaojia - Hundred Mile Gallery - Naraty, distance 117 kilometers, cycling for 87 kilometers
D5 Naraty - Lartundaban - Bayinbuluke, cycling for 69 kilometers
D6 Bayinbuluke - Big and Small Dragon Pools - Kuruli, cycling for 156 kilometers
D7 Kuruli - Tianshan Grand Canyon - Kuqa, distance 105 kilometers, cycling for 87 kilometers
⚠️Tips
1️⃣ The Duku Highway is only open for about four months a year (June to September), but it will be closed in extreme weather. The road condition is good, and only vehicles with 7 seats or less are allowed to pass.
2️⃣ Accommodations at the starting and ending points are very good. Midway accommodations are in Naraty and Bayinbuluke. If you don't watch the sunrise at the 'Nine Curves and Eighteen Bends', Naraty is preferred.
3️⃣ There are 4 mountain passes in total, with many sharp turns. Remember not to overtake, overtake in the wrong direction, or coast downhill in neutral.
4️⃣ Some places have no signal. Inform family and friends in advance if there's an issue, and also carry some change and snacks in case of unexpected traffic jams.
5️⃣ During peak season, traffic jams from north to south on Duku are severe. If you only travel on Duku, it is recommended to start from Kuqa in the opposite direction.
6️⃣ Do not stop to take photos at random, pay attention to safety, and there are special parking areas along the way for viewing and taking photos; if you encounter thin ice, water stains, cattle, and sheep, please observe the road surface and drive slowly.
7️⃣ The Duku Highway has 'four seasons in one day,' even in summer, you need to bring cold-weather clothing.
8️⃣ The essence of the Duku Highway is in the southern section, from Bayinbuluke to Kuqa. Travel agencies generally won't go out of their way to visit, but if you have plenty of time and are self-driving/chartered, be sure to complete this section.
9️⃣ The toll station on the Duku Highway is located more than 10 kilometers away from Kuqa City at Yanshui Gully 20, and it charges both ways.
🔟 There are very few gas stations along the way (as shown in the picture), and there will be queues! Be sure to fill up when you encounter a gas station.
1️⃣1️⃣ There are three charging stations along the way: Maoliu Gully Service Area, Lati Tourism Service Area, and Bayinbuluke Pegasus Bayin Self-Driving Camp.
1️⃣2️⃣ Most of the road sections have a speed limit of 40, some cannot exceed 30, and the maximum speed cannot exceed 80.
1️⃣3️⃣ Traffic hours: 7 am to 9 pm
Duku Highway, the landscape avenue that runs through the ridges of the Tianshan Mountains, is known as the domestic self-driving ceiling, which almost concentrates all the beauty of Xinjiang. On this road, you can see rich natural landscapes such as Gobi, desert, canyons, grasslands, snow-capped mountains, lakes, etc., and different scenery is ten miles a day through four seasons. More than 560 kilometers away, experience different driving fun, feel an unforgettable journey.
Duku Highway, a skyline through the Tianshan Mountains, from Dushanzi in northern Xinjiang to Kuqa in southern Xinjiang. This national road is open for 4 months a year, and the whole journey can experience four seasons. It will be opened all the way through the mountains and mountains. It will be awestruck by the engineers who opened it. The more precipitous is the tiger mouth section located about 70 kilometers away from Dushanzi. It is pasted with the mountain and is surrounded by strong barbed wire. But the scenery along the way is also very beautiful, and it feels worth a walk in the rolling halfway up the mountain.
Duku Highway is a veritable landscape avenue, from the starting point of Dushanzi Grand Canyon, to the Nalati, Bayinbrook grassland along the way, and then to the end of the Kuqa Tianshan mysterious Grand Canyon. The most beautiful personal feeling is Baili Gallery to Bayin Grassland
20230720-0722 All day: 1. The "Duku Highway" is the "Kuqa-Dushanzi" section of 217 National Road, with a total length of 561 kilometers. It is the main traffic road of the north and south Xinjiang. The scenery along the way is beautiful, spanning a variety of landforms such as Gobi, hills, streams, wetlands, grasslands, snow-capped mountains, canyons and other landforms. It is known as the "most beautiful highway". It is a paradise for self-driving parties, the south is the desolate and rough Gobi mountain, and the north is the vibrant grassland valley. At least half of the highway is above 2,000 meters above sea level, and the highest altitude is more than 3,400 meters. It is generally closed from early November to May and June of the next year due to weather. ① Address: Kuche City, Aksu District, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, to Dushanzi District, Karamay City. ② Transportation: No bus access. ③ peak season: no. ④ Time: 2-4 Days. 2. Duku Highway began in 1964 with the approval of the central project 07042 and 0603, in 1969 officially construction, to 1979 the whole line opened to traffic, due to the difficult project, natural conditions, the construction process of 168 PLA soldiers gave their lives. Duku Highway is a monument in the history of China's highway construction, and its significance is that: ① greatly improve transportation efficiency: shorten the original journey of more than 1,000 kilometers from the north and south Xinjiang by half, saving time, effort and money. ② Promote Xinjiang's economic development: If you want to build roads first, it is convenient for Xinjiang's cattle, sheep, fruits, resources and energy to integrate advantageous resources. ③ Strengthen territorial defense capabilities: Xinjiang is bordered by 8 countries, and its geographical location is important and its national defense is of great significance. ④ Promote north-south exchanges in Xinjiang: Xinjiang accounts for 1/6 of the country's territory, and the north and south Xinjiang are blocked by Tianshan, and most residents of the two Xinjiangs have never visited another area in their lifetime. ⑤ Accumulation of construction experience: 1950s coincided with the deterioration of China-Soviet relations. After losing assistance, China's infrastructure construction began from scratch. Overcoming various difficulties in construction, accumulated experience and became today's "Infrastructure Crazy" step by step. ⑥ makes self-driving tour possible. 3. There are 2 5A scenic spots, 1 4A scenic spots and some small scenic spots along the Duku Highway. The undeveloped mountains and rivers, forest Gobi and other beautiful scenery, if there is a pair of eyes that will compose the composition, the beautiful film is more everywhere. The main attractions from south to north are: ① Kuqa End Stone Tablet: The stone tablet is engraved with the "Duku Highway End", behind which is a desolate mound. There is also a stone monument of "Kuche Grand Canyon" nearby. Kuche Grand Canyon is a nickname for the scenic spot "Tianshan Mystery Grand Canyon" that passes by for a while, and is its undeveloped area. ② Keqier Haqi: The bonfire platform was built in the Han Dynasty, with a residual height of 16 meters. Here is the only way to go through the "Northern Road" of the 3 lanes of the Han Silk Road. The fire is called "" at night and the smoke is called "" during the day. Kejer-eha means "red whistle" in ancient Turkic language. The local legend in Kuqa predicts that the princess will die from the drug lord. The king built this tower and let the princess move into the tower to protect it. Later, the drug lord drilled into the red apple that the king gave to the princess. The princess was poisoned. This campfire table is therefore named. Ticket 14 yuan... The number of words is over, continue in the last picture
Duku Highway north from Karamay City Dushanzi District, south to Aksu District Kuqa City Duku Highway, known as the landscape avenue through the ridge of the sky. Duku Highway is also known as one of the most beautiful roads in China, the best route for tourism from northern Xinjiang to the south, and you can enjoy the spectacular scenery of "four seasons a day, ten miles different days" along the way.
Known as "China's most beautiful road", the Duku Highway's G217 line is from Dushanzi to Kuqa, which runs through Tianshan Mountain to the north and south, connecting the north and south Xinjiang. It is a road built by countless heroes with life, with a total length of 561 kilometers. "There are four seasons all the way, ten miles different days" is the best description of the road along the road. Duku Highway is open for 4 months a year, and now it has become a self-driving Internet celebrity road.