The Duku Highway in northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, deemed one of China' most beautiful roads, has attracted flocks of enthusiastic tourists from across the country after an eight-month seasonal closure.
The scenic highway opened to traffic on Saturday, the first day of the ongoing three-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday.
On both sides of the famed highway, tourists can enjoy the view of extensive grasslands, forests and snow mountains as they drive on.
The towns along the highway also offer visitors a wide variety of entertainment activities, including horse riding, appreciating picturesque landscape from cable cars, paragliding, and even enjoying a short ride on the helicopter.
"There are snow mountains, grasslands, spruce forests, wildflowers, and streams here along the Duku Highway, which offer us an exceptional travel experience," said Han Chang, a tourist from Beijing.
Locals are also taking advantage of the tourist season, setting up booths along village roads to sell specialties such as mushrooms, honey and dairy foods to travelers.
"I've bought some wild local specialties, like mushrooms and morels. I think they are pretty good," said a tourist surnamed Yu from south China's Guangdong Province.
The 560-kilometer Duku Highway closes each winter due to weather conditions. Typically, closure begins in October and lasts until June.
Scenic highway in northwest China's Xinjiang attracts flocks of tourists after seasonal closure
President of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Lee Jae Myung has expressed his hope that his upcoming visit to China will help eliminate past misunderstandings and issues, underscoring the importance of ties between the two countries.
At the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Lee will pay a state visit to China from Jan 4 to 7. It will be Lee's first visit to China since he took office.
In an interview with China Media Group (CMG) in Seoul on Wednesday, Lee acknowledged the existing misunderstandings and issues between the two countries, noting that addressing these issues is a key goal of his visit.
"The current international landscape is turbulent, with escalating issues among various countries. In this context, the relationship between the Republic of Korea and China holds significant importance for us. the ROK and China are deeply interconnected in many areas, including history, economy, geopolitics, politics and security. Northeast Asia's peace, stability, mutual respect, and common prosperity are crucial for both countries," said Lee.
"Admittedly, there have been some misunderstandings and issues between the ROK and China, which have hindered the development of bilateral relations to some extent. Therefore, the purpose of my upcoming visit to China is to minimize or eliminate these past issues, foster a leap in our bilateral relations to a new level, and solidify the ROK and China as partners that mutually support each other's development," he said.
ROK President hopes to reduce misunderstandings with China during upcoming visit
