China National Highway 312 (312国道), also referred to as Route 312 or The Mother Road, is a key east-west route beginning in Shanghai and ending at Khorgas, Xinjiang in the

Ili River The Ili ( ug, ئىلى دەرياسى, Ili deryasi, Ili dəryasi, 6=Или Дәряси; kk, Ile, ; russian: Или; zh, c=伊犁河, p=Yīlí Hé, dng, Йили хә, Xiao'erjing: اِلِ حْ; mn, Ил, literally "Bareness") is a river sit ...

valley, on the border with Kazakhstan. In total it spans , passing through Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan, Shaanxi,

Gansu Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibet ...

before ending in Xinjiang. Besides Shanghai, cities of note on the route include

Suzhou Suzhou (; ; Suzhounese: ''sou¹ tseu¹'' , Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Soochow, is a major city in southern Jiangsu province, East China. Suzhou is the largest city in Jiangsu, and a major economic center and focal point of trade ...

, Wuxi, Nanjing,

Hefei Hefei (; ) is the capital and largest city of Anhui Province, People's Republic of China. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, and cultural center of Anhui. Its population was 9,369,881 as of the 2020 census and its built-up ( ...

, Xinyang,

Nanyang Nanyang is the romanization of two common Chinese place names. It may refer to: Written as 南洋 (Southern Ocean) * Nanyang (region), a Chinese term denoting the Southeast Asian lands surrounding the South China Sea ;China * Nanyang Fleet, Qing ...

, Xi'an,

Lanzhou Lanzhou (, ; ) is the capital and largest city of Gansu Province in Northwest China. Located on the banks of the Yellow River, it is a key regional transportation hub, connecting areas further west by rail to the eastern half of the country. H ...

Jiayuguan Jiayuguan (嘉峪关) may refer to two locations in Gansu, China: *Jiayuguan (pass), pass of the Great Wall of China *Jiayuguan City Jiayuguan (, ) is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Gansu province, with a population of 312,663 as of th ...

and Ürümqi. It theoretically starts at People's Square, the Zero-Kilometre point for all highways starting in Shanghai, but the first part of the road, Cao-An Highway, starts at Cao-Yang New Village. The road was the subject of Rob Gifford's 2007 book '' China Road'', in which he describes traveling the entire length of Route 312 from the

East China Sea The East China Sea is an arm of the Western Pacific Ocean, located directly offshore from East China. It covers an area of roughly . The sea’s northern extension between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula is the Yellow Sea, separated b ...

to Central Asia. The G40 Shanghai–Xi'an Expressway has replaced National Highway 312 as the main route between those two cities.

Route and distance

Highway G312 (G30) Xinjiang, China - panoramio (1)

Highway G312 Xinjiang, China - panoramio (10)

Accidents

On October 10 2019, a bridge of G312 crossing Xigang Road in Wuxi was collapsed by several overloaded trucks, killing 3 people and injuring 2 others.

References

External links

Official website of Ministry of Transport of PRC
{{China National Highways

312 __NOTOC__ Year 312 ( CCCXII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantinus and Licinianus (or, less frequently, ...

Road transport in Shanghai Transport in Jiangsu Transport in Anhui Transport in Henan Transport in Shaanxi Transport in Gansu Transport in Ningxia Transport in Xinjiang

Route and distance

Accidents

See also

References

External links