2,540 km expressway will make Beijing and Xinjiang closer

An aerial view of the Beijing-Urumqi Highway crossing through the Gobi desert in Ejin Banner, North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, May 25, 2017. The highway passes through three deserts -- the Tengri, Badan Jaran and Ulan Buh. With a total length of 2,450 kilometers, it will be the longest expressway passing through a desert in the world and shorten the road distance between Beijing and Urumqi, the capital of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, by 1,300 kilometers. [Photo/Xinhua]