Yaxi Expressway: Most Beautiful Sky Road in China

Ya'an Covered Bridge

It is a wide bridge topped by 2-3 storey buildings with typical roof tile eaves of Chinese traditional architectural style, a seemingly busy city hub for dining, shopping and recreation.

Still intoxicated by the beauty of the bridge and the layers of buildings cascading down the hillsides on both sides of the river valley, I hear Mr. Chen calling my name urging me to get on and go.

Yaxi Expressway

Mr. Chen takes most of the driving on our West Sichuan trip. He tells me that today we''ll drive along Yaxi Expressway (雅西高速) which is lauded as the most beautiful "Sky Road" in China! Really? Why "Sky Road"? Feeling I'm still skeptical of the "Sky Road", he suggests me searching online for Yaxi Expressway.

Oh, my God! A good amount of information on "China Sky Road" instantly appears before eyes. Yaxi Expressway starts from Ya'an and ends at Xichang (西昌), a section of Beijing-Kunming highway, 240km long and a ladderlike road "leading to the sky".

For more information on the scenic drive in China, check out my another article "The Top 10 Scenic Road Trips in China".

The "leading to the sky" here has two meanings - 1) The 240km expressway is made of 270 viaducts, an elevated roadway that stretches 240 kilometers, designed to minimize impact on the environment and driving on the numerous viaducts makes people feel like driving in the air; 2) For driving each kilometer, we ascends by 7.5 meters along the expressway. There are also 25 spiral tunnels used to reduce the effect on mountains. The construction of Yaxi Expressway took 5 years and opened to traffic in April 2012.

Ya'an to Shimian Freeway ( Part of Yaxi Expressway)

While still overjoyed at the timely blessing, I'm kindly advised by Mr. Chen to the effect that among the 200km drive, for the first 130km, we have the luck to experience the so-called most beautiful "Sky Road" in China, but for the rest of the 70km (off the expressway), we''ll face the tough challenge driving past narrow mountainous roads sided by risky and steep cliffs with the possible falling stones and rocks. It looks like both a gift and ordeal from God to test us. So let's go!

Ya Xi Expressway Driving Experience

Overcast, we have a gloomy morning, without white clouds and azure sky, but not too bad, it allows us to have the effect of viewing Chinese paintings in black and white framed on route.

Driving along the elevated highways high above the valleys and through the tunnels, we are excited and thrilled at the pristine beauty of the scenes flying past. The famous Dadu River (大渡河) accompanies us snaking parallel to the highway for most of the drive trip.

Nearly all Chinese know about Dadu River due to the famous heroic legend "Seizing of the Luding Bridge" in the course of the Long March in May 1935 and we will talk about it later.

Dadu River is 1062 km long, the large tributary of Min River (岷江) which is in turn the largest tributary of Yangzte River. Within Dadu River basin, there are rich tourist resources including the historical site of "Seizing of the Luding Bridge", Mt. Emei, Hailuogou Glacier and Mount Gongga.

The 25 tunnels on Yaxi Expressway have greatly shortned the drive distance in the mountainous areas. The tunnels are deep and long.

For example, Nibashan tunnel has a depth of 1,650 meters and a length of 9,962 meters on the left line and 10,007 on the right line, lit brightly and driving safe.

Shimian to Moxi S211 ( a provincial highway)

The provincial highway from Shimian off the Yaxi Expressway to Moxi Town is tough, a zigzag mountain road with the risk of falling stones on one higher side.

Add-On

Hassle-free Chengdu & Sichuan Guided Tours

If you don’t want to go the do-it-yourself route and prefer the hassle-free escorted tours, here are some options for Chengdu and Sichuan guided tours:

Further Readings