International Roads to China

As the most populous country in the world and third largest in area, China also has the largest number of neighbours sharing its 22,000km land borders. They are: North Korea, Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam. Among the 34 provincial-level administrative regions of China, 9 of them have land neighbors. They are respectively: Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Xinjiang, Tibet, Yunnan and Guangxi. Let’s see the international roads to China province by province.

1. Liaoning

Liaoning is the southernmost province of Northeast China, with North Korea’s North Pyongan and Chagang provinces in the southeast. The Yalu River marks its border with North Korea, emptying into the Korea Bay between Dandong in Liaoning and Sinuiju in North Korea.

In facts, there are many roads connecting Liaoning and North Korea. The Friendship Bridge links the Chinese border city of Dandong with North Korea. In the duture, a new bridge called New Yalu River Bridge over the Yalu River links the Chinese border city of Dandong, Liaoning province, and the North Korean county of Ryongchon. 

2. Jilin

Jilin is one of the three provinces of Northeast China, which borders North Korea and Russia to the east, Heilongjiang to the north, Liaoning to the south, and Inner Mongolia to the west. There are several borders connecting North Korea and Russia.

North Korea – Jilin

Tourists can get into Jilin through Huichun Border Port(珲春口岸), Tumen Border Port(图们口岸), etc. There are roads connecting the border with North Korea.

Russia – Jilin

Huichun Border Port(珲春口岸) has the national boundary line with Russia. Tourists can get to Huichun by road from Russia.

3. Heilongjiang

Located in the most northeastern part of the country, Heilongjiang is bordered by Jilin to the south and Inner Mongolia to the west, sharing a border with Russia to the north and east which can be connected by roads. The main border ports are Suifenhe(绥芬河口岸), Dongning(东宁口岸), Mishan(密山口岸), Jixiang(吉祥口岸), etc., where tourists can enter China through these ports.

Heihe Highway Bridge(黑河公路大桥)

A new two-lane highway bridge linking the two cities is being constructed across the Heilongjiang River and is scheduled to open in October 2019. Tourists can get into Heilongjiang through the highway  bridge in the near future.

Harbin – Moscow(Ha’e) Road(哈俄公路)

It’s a freight road and it takes only about 9 days between Harbin and Moscow.

4. Inner Mongolia

Being one of the autonomous regions of the People’s Republic of China, Heilongjiang is located in the north of the country and its border includes most of the length of China’s border with Mongolia and a small section of China’s border with Russia. 

Russia – Inner Mongolia

China-Russia Border Road(中俄边防公路): Located at the border of Inner Mongolia and Russia, it is a China’s county road called 904 near the national border. 

There are several border port connecting China and Russia such as Manzhouli Border Port(满洲里口岸), the largest land port city on the Sino-Russia border. It is the only international border port composed of railway, highway and airport ports, and the only land port in China that is open 24 hours a day.

Mongolia – Inner Mongolia

Ganhai(Gan Qimaodu-Hailiutu) Road(甘海公路): With a total length of 133 kilometers, it is located in the region of Urad Middle Banner, Bayan Nur City, which is an important port road leading to Mongolia in Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

Ganlin(Gan Qimaodu-Linhe District) Road(甘临公路): With a total length of 183.37 kilometers, it starts from Gan Qimaodu in the north, the border of China and Mongolia and ends at Linhe district of Bayan Nur City in the south, connecting G6(Beijing-Tibet expressway).

5. Gansu

Gansu lies between the Tibetan and Loess plateaus, and borders Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Ningxia to the north, Xinjiang and Qinghai to the west, Sichuan to the south, and Shaanxi to the east. The Yellow River passes through the southern part of the province. At present, travelers can only get to Gansu province from Mongolia via Inner Mongolia.

6. Xinjiang

Xinjiang is a provincial-level autonomous region of China in the northwest of the country, China’s province with most neighboring counties, which are Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. It also borders Tibet Autonomous Region and the provinces of Gansu and Qinghai.

Pakistan – Xinjiang

Karakoram Highway(China-Pakistan Friendship Highway): It is a 1,032-kilometre national highway which extends from Hasan Abdal in the Punjab province of Pakistan to the Khunjerab Pass in Gilgit-Baltistan, where it crosses into China and becomes China National Highway 314. 

Mongolia – Xinjiang

There are four border port connecting Xinjiang and Mongolia. Travelers can get into Xinjiang from border ports of Hongshanzui(红山嘴口岸), Takeshiken(塔克什肯口岸), Wulasitai(乌拉斯台), and Laoyemiao(老爷庙).

Russia & Kazakhstan – Xinjiang

Western Europe-Western China Expressway(双西公路): It is the China, Kazakh, Russia road and stretch from the port of Lianyungang to the port at St. Petersburg, 8,445 kilometers away. 

Kyrgyzstan & Tajikistan – Xinjiang

The China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan highway officially opened to traffic on February 25, 2019. The 950-kilometer highway starts from Kashgar in Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, goes through Osh in Southern Kyrgyzstan, and ends in Uzbekistan’s capital Tashkent.

7. Tibet

Tibet is a province-level autonomous region in southwest China. It borders on India, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, Burma and other countries on the south. The current borders of the Tibet Autonomous Region were generally established in the 18th century. Except for Nepal, Tibet and other neighboring countries have no border ports.

Chinese-Nepalese Highway

It stretches 900 kilometers from Kathmandu in Nepal, then passing through Zhamgu Nyalam, Tingri, Shigatse, and finally getting to Lhasa in Tibet. It is about 150 km in Nepal and 750 km in Tibet. There are about 170 unsurfaced road to Tibet.

8. Yunnan

The province borders the Chinese provinces Guangxi, Guizhou, Sichuan, and the Tibet Autonomous Region, as well as the countries Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar. It is reputed as the South of the Clouds. There are several roads connecting with them.

Yunnan – Laos

National Road 213: From Yibin of Sichuan to Yunnan, cross Zhaotong, Kunming, Yuxi and Simao to Xishuangbanna, it covering 1,581 km. Now this road has been built to Simao and will soon to Jinghong. It will pass Laos and finally get to Bangkok of Thailand, which will become a more convenient passage to ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations).

Yunnan – Myanmar

National Road 320: It crosses Yunnan from the east to the west, via Qujing, Kunming, Chuxiong, Dali, Baoshan, Luxi to Ruili on the China-Myanmar border, covering 1,030 km.

Burma Road: It was a highway extending about 1,100 kilometres (680 mi) through mountainous terrain from Lashio, northeast Burma northeastward to Kunming, China. The Burma Road’s importance diminished after World War II, but it has remained a link in a 3,400-km road system from Yangon, Burma, to Chongqing.

Kunming – Thailand

Kunming-Bangkok Expressway is an international expressway running from Kunming, Yunnan province, People’s Republic of China, to Bangkok, Thailand via Laos It was opened in 2008.

Kunming – Vietnam

G8011 Kaihe Expressway: It stretches from Kaiyuan to Hekou on the Vietnamese border. 

9. Guangxi

Guangxi is an autonomous region of the People’s Republic of China, located in south China and bordering Vietnam. Formerly a province, Guangxi became an autonomous region in 1958. There are two land ports connecting Vietnam and Guangxi: Pingxiang Border Port(凭祥口岸) and Dongxing Border Port(东兴口岸).