Open to the outside world at last

After the highway opens to traffic, the distance from urban areas of Nyingchi to Metog county is reduced to 180 kilometers from 346 km, with travel time reduced to about 4.5 hours from the previous 11. A loop line has been formed in and out of Metog, breaking the traffic bottleneck, and enabling locals to reach some of the formerly remote locations.

The highway is the second major route linking Metog county with the outside world. The county was once an isolated "island" that was first connected to the country's highway network in 2013. It was China's last county to connect with the national road network.