July 3 – After four years of unremitting efforts by highway builders, the Liupanshan Extra-Long Tunnel on the Qingdao-Lanzhou Expressway was officially opened to traffic today. The time for vehicles to pass through the Liupanshan Mountains will be shortened from about 1 hour via National Highway 312 to about 20 minutes.

This 9.49-kilometer tunnel is the longest expressway tunnel in China's high-altitude areas. Its completion and opening to traffic have achieved the full connectivity of the Qingdao-Lanzhou Expressway within Ningxia and will provide important transportation guarantees for the travel of 14 million rural people in 61 impoverished counties (districts) across Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, and Qinghai provinces and autonomous regions. The project has a total investment of 2.1 billion yuan. During construction, in response to unfavorable geological conditions such as fractured surrounding rock, numerous fissures, and large water inflow, all participating units cooperated closely, strengthened on-site management, widely promoted and applied new construction technologies, equipment, and processes, organized domestic research institutions to carry out scientific and technological research, highlighted the supporting role of construction technology, and achieved excellent results: early completion of the project and no casualties in safety production.
To ensure driving safety and emergency rescue, the Liupanshan Extra-Long Tunnel has a total of 14 cross passages for vehicles and 28 emergency parking bays. A 200-meter special lighting zone is set up in each of the left and right tunnels, displaying artificial green spaces, trees, an underwater world, and blue sky with white clouds, creating a simulated "natural environment" for drivers to reduce fatigue for drivers and passengers. The interior walls of the tunnel are decorated with white tiles inlaid with blue, yellow, and green arrow-shaped ceramic strips. The base color of the tiles is milky white, and the colors of the waistline are blue, orange, and green, changing every 3 kilometers. The three colors divide the tunnel into three sections, enhancing visual effects through color differences and reminding drivers and passengers to prevent fatigue driving.