The photo taken on Oct. 28, 2005 shows the highway linking Sichuan and Tibet zigzagging...

The photo taken on Oct. 28, 2005 shows the highway linking Sichuan and Tibet zigzagging its way up Mount Jianziwan (curve of scissors), with its bealock at 4, 659 meters high above sea level, in Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of southwest China's Sichuan Province. As the most formidable projects in Chinese history, the Sichuan-Tibet and Qinghai-Tibet Highways connecting Tibet with the southwestern Sichuan province and the northwest Qinghai province are 4, 360 kilometers long and were built at an average altitude of over 4, 000 meters. Their opening in 1954 ended the period when no modern highways led to the world's highest plateau. During the past 50 years, more than 20 million tons of goods have been transported into Tibet on the two highways. Meanwhile, the central government has invested 22 billion yuan (about 2.66 billion US dollars) in highway construction and maintenance during the past 50 years.