G6 Beijing–Lhasa Expressway

Beijing–Lhasa Expressway
Beijing–Lhasa Expressway
北京－拉萨高速公路
Jingzang Expressway; 京藏高速
	The Beijing–Lhasa Expressway, including planned/under construction sections, is highlighted in red.
	G6 and the Juyong Pass
Route information
	Part of AH3 AH42
Length	3,710 km (2,310 mi) Length when complete.
Major junctions
East end	3rd Ring Road at Madian Bridge, Xicheng, BJ
	G4501 in Changping, BJ; G7 in Changping, BJ; G7 in Zhangjiakou, HE; G95 (S) in Zhangjiakou, HE; G95 (N) in Zhangjiakou, HE; G7 in Zhangjiakou, HE; G55 in Ulanqab, NM; G7 in Ulanqab, NM; G7 / G0601 (E / NE) in Hohhot, NM; G0601 (NW) in Hohhot, NM; G65 in Baotou, NM; G7 (W) in Bayannur, NM; G18 in Wuhai, NM; G0601 in Yinchuan, NX; G20 in Yinchuan, NX; G70 (N) in Yinchuan, NX; G2012 (E) in Wuzhong, NX; G2012 (W) in Wuzhong, NX; G70 (S) in Wuzhong, NX; G30 (N) in Lanzhou, GS; G30 (S) in Lanzhou, GS; G3001 in Lanzhou, GS; G0612 in Xining, QH; G0612 in Xining, QH; G0613 in Xining, QH; G0615 (E) in Delingha, QH; G0615 (W) in Delingha, QH; G3011 in Golmud, QH;
West end	Xiongka IC at Doilungdêqên District, Lhasa, XZ
Location
Country	China
Highway system
	National Trunk Highway System; Primary; Auxiliary; National Highways; Transport in China;

The Beijing–Lhasa Expressway (simplified Chinese: 北京－拉萨高速公路; traditional Chinese: 北京－拉薩高速公路; pinyin: Běijīng－Lāsà gāosù gōnglù), commonly abbreviated to Jingzang Expressway (Chinese: 京藏高速), is part of the Chinese national expressway network and is planned to connect the nation's capital, Beijing, to the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, Lhasa.

It passes through seven of China's administrative regions, including the Beijing municipality, the province of Hebei, the autonomous regions of Inner Mongolia and Ningxia, the provinces of Gansu and Qinghai, and finally the Tibet Autonomous Region.

Passage

G6 Expressway at the interchange with the Fifth Ring Road in northern Beijing.

Beginning from Beijing and driving southwest to Lhasa, The expressway runs approximately 3,710 kilometres (2,310 miles) through Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Gansu and Qinghai, for a total of seven provincial-level divisions.^{[clarification needed]} Excluding the two terminal points, it passes through the major cities of Zhangjiakou, Jining District, Hohhot, Bayannur, Wuhai, Yinchuan, Wuzhong, Baiyin, Lanzhou, Xining and Golmud.^{[clarification needed]}

As of August 2010, just over fifty percent of the expressway is open to traffic, which mainly comprises the stretch between Beijing and Xining. Like China National Highway 109 and the Qingzang railway, it is expected to pass west through Golmud before heading southwest into Tibet and Lhasa. Because of climatic conditions, this stretch of the expressway does not yet have a construction timetable.^[2]

As of 2019 the expressway is completed between Beijing and Golmud, and the section between Nagqu and Lhasa has completed in August 2021. The mountainous section between Golmud and Nagqu is not yet shown on maps, and reserved for future plans.

The G6 merges with the G7 in Huhhot and does not split until Linhe (now Baynnur).

Ningxia

The expressway is of particular importance in Ningxia, where 86.7% of the urban population lives in cities along the expressway, and over 90% of the provincial GDP is generated in these cities. In 2020, a 2x4 lane bypass around Ningxia's capital Yinchuan was opened, and another 212 kilometres (132 miles) in Ningxia will be widened to 2x3 lanes.^[3]