Chinese expressways and highways

[TheGrassGuy]

Wikipedia says that Chinese expressways are usually posted in Chinese and English, except for Inner Mongolia (Mongolian and Chinese) and Xinjiang (Uyghur and Chinese). But a road video from Qinghai on the G6 Beijing-Lhasa expressway shows some signs in Chinese, English, Mongolian, and Uyghur. Here's the video in question (note the Chinglish at 0:17):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DFtRzwhLrY&ab_channel=Ctripn

How many Mongolians and Uyghurs are there in Tibet, anyway?

[TheGrassGuy]

TIL that "S3500" exists in Hebei.

(According to Baidu)

[TheGrassGuy]

If you ever feel ugly, just remember that this sign exists.

[TheGrassGuy]

These two are expressways... in a remote region of China.

[Chris]

That is G56 Hangrui Expressway near Dali in western Yunnan. This is a first generation mountain expressway, they typically have low design standards, most of those were built before 2005 and are now being upgraded with new alignments or parallel routes.

[bing101]

Here is a tour of the [color=var(--ytd-video-primary-info-renderer-title-color, var(--yt-spec-text-primary))]Chongqing Expressway

[/color]

[SkyPesos]

I go to China about once every other year, so I've seen their freeway system many times. Though I haven't traveled on it for a long distance trip at all, considering that the freeway system is tolled in most parts and that high speed rail is cheap. But for the times I've been on the Chinese freeways, the one I used the most is by far G15, because I travel through the coastal cities (normally Shanghai, Fuzhou, Xiamen and Shenzhen) the most. Feels like China's I-95 to me in some parts.

At this point, I'm not sure whether China's freeways is more like FritzOwl's stuff or not. They have some freeways that I would consider redundant with each other, like G42 and G50. But at the same time, they have a lot of province level (Sxx) freeways, which I'm 100% sure that FritzOwl would've turned into interstates at this point. There's a couple of province level freeways with the same auxiliary route numbering as the national freeways instead of their own system, like Fuzhou's Airport Freeway is numbered S1531 (this is the only one I know of, since I'm most familiar with Fuzhou out of all Chinese cities, there's most likely more).

I like how China numbers their auxiliary nationals freeways . Instead of an x15 for example, it's a 15xx. Unless a parent route has more than 99 child routes, pretty much eliminates number duplication between auxiliary freeways. There's only one suffixed freeway I can think of: G15W through Hangzhou and Suzhou, while the G15 mainline (correct me if it's actually called G15E) goes through Shanghai.

[vdeane]

They have some freeways that I would consider redundant with each other, like G42 and G50.

Or G6 and G7.  Reminds me of some I-11 proposals in Arizona.

[hotdogPi]

They have some freeways that I would consider redundant with each other, like G42 and G50.

Or G6 and G7.  Reminds me of some I-11 proposals in Arizona.

You know if you're a Wikipedia addict if...

your first thought upon seeing G6 and/or G7 is "this should be deleted, and it's not even controversial".

[SkyPesos]

They have some freeways that I would consider redundant with each other, like G42 and G50.

Or G6 and G7.  Reminds me of some I-11 proposals in Arizona.

I forgot about G7 :facepalm:. Looking at Xinjiang and considering how desolate that area is, G30 is more than enough for that area. And it parallels G6 very closely through remote areas in Inner Mongolia for most of its route until... Xinjiang.

Think China even have a high speed rail line into Xinjiang. For almost all other countries, that idea is laughable to even think about, let alone actually constructing it.

[TheGrassGuy]

Wait till FritzOwl sees this

[SkyPesos]

Wait till FritzOwl sees this

Does he even post outside of fictional?

[hotdogPi]

Wait till FritzOwl sees this

Does he even post outside of fictional?

No.

[Chris]

I wouldn't underestimate the population density of most of Eastern China. China has 1.4 billion people and over 1.3 billion of them live on less than half of the Chinese land area in the east. The western regions and provinces of Xinjiang, Tibet, Qinghai, Gansu & Inner Mongolia account for 5.25 million square kilometers and only 82 million people (6% of total): a population density lower than Sweden or Kansas.

Most people have never heard of Shandong or Henan, yet these provinces reach almost 100 million people each and have a higher population density than New Jersey.

This high population density results in a dense grid on the East China plains and increasingly also in mountain provinces like Guizhou, Guangxi or Yunnan.

[SkyPesos]

I wouldn't underestimate the population density of most of Eastern China. China has 1.4 billion people and over 1.3 billion of them live on less than half of the Chinese land area in the east. The western regions and provinces of Xinjiang, Tibet, Qinghai, Gansu & Inner Mongolia account for 5.25 million square kilometers and only 82 million people (6% of total): a population density lower than Sweden or Kansas.

Most people have never heard of Shandong or Henan, yet these provinces reach almost 100 million people each and have a higher population density than New Jersey.

This high population density results in a dense grid on the East China plains and increasingly also in mountain provinces like Guizhou, Guangxi or Yunnan.

Also explains their high speed rail lines in the eastern part of the country, in addition to the freeways. Between Fuzhou and Shanghai, a trip I make pretty frequently while in China, I took the original coastal route via Wenzhou the first couple of times, then the most recent trip took me on an inland route via Nanping. They're constructing a second, Beijing-Shanghai high speed rail line with a more coastal routing.

In the case of Shandong and Henan, I knew that Qingdao was a large city since a long time ago. Their provincial capitals, Zhengzhou and Jinan, are in the top 20 for population in China too. Luoyang and Kaifeng are smaller than the other 3 mentioned, but as ancient capitals of China, it's popular with tourists.

[TheGrassGuy]

I wouldn't underestimate the population density of most of Eastern China. China has 1.4 billion people and over 1.3 billion of them live on less than half of the Chinese land area in the east. The western regions and provinces of Xinjiang, Tibet, Qinghai, Gansu & Inner Mongolia account for 5.25 million square kilometers and only 82 million people (6% of total): a population density lower than Sweden or Kansas.

Most people have never heard of Shandong or Henan, yet these provinces reach almost 100 million people each and have a higher population density than New Jersey.

This high population density results in a dense grid on the East China plains and increasingly also in mountain provinces like Guizhou, Guangxi or Yunnan.

Also explains their high speed rail lines in the eastern part of the country, in addition to the freeways. Between Fuzhou and Shanghai, a trip I make pretty frequently while in China, I took the original coastal route via Wenzhou the first couple of times, then the most recent trip took me on an inland route via Nanping. They're constructing a second, Beijing-Shanghai high speed rail line with a more coastal routing.

In the case of Shandong and Henan, I knew that Qingdao was a large city since a long time ago. Their provincial capitals, Zhengzhou and Jinan, are in the top 20 for population in China too. Luoyang and Kaifeng are smaller than the other 3 mentioned, but as ancient capitals of China, it's popular with tourists.

Another ABC roadgeek?

[Chris]

In the case of Shandong and Henan, I knew that Qingdao was a large city since a long time ago. Their provincial capitals, Zhengzhou and Jinan, are in the top 20 for population in China too. Luoyang and Kaifeng are smaller than the other 3 mentioned, but as ancient capitals of China, it's popular with tourists.

I think people and media in general are quite ignorant about China. Many people can't name more than three cities in China (Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong).

A year ago the world media was finding out that some unknown city called Wuhan was actually one of the world's largest cities. But it could've been any other massive city: Chengdu, Chongqing, Guangzhou or Zhengzhou, other megacities relatively few foreigners have heard of.

People and the media should pay a little more attention to China beyond the standard rhetoric. They are quickly becoming dominant in the world. The Belt & Road Initiative has been taking over construction and economic development across Asia and Africa and also increasingly the Middle East and South America. China is much more active in acquiring stakes in European port infrastructure than many people realize. China may 'only' be a trade issue in North America, elsewhere the Chinese are increasingly settled in the economic system.

[TheGrassGuy]

In the case of Shandong and Henan, I knew that Qingdao was a large city since a long time ago. Their provincial capitals, Zhengzhou and Jinan, are in the top 20 for population in China too. Luoyang and Kaifeng are smaller than the other 3 mentioned, but as ancient capitals of China, it's popular with tourists.

I think people and media in general are quite ignorant about China. Many people can't name more than three cities in China (Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong).

A year ago the world media was finding out that some unknown city called Wuhan was actually one of the world's largest cities. But it could've been any other massive city: Chengdu, Chongqing, Guangzhou or Zhengzhou, other megacities relatively few foreigners have heard of.

People and the media should pay a little more attention to China beyond the standard rhetoric. They are quickly becoming dominant in the world. The Belt & Road Initiative has been taking over construction and economic development across Asia and Africa and also increasingly the Middle East and South America. China is much more active in acquiring stakes in European port infrastructure than many people realize. China may 'only' be a trade issue in North America, elsewhere the Chinese are increasingly settled in the economic system.

...not to mention a gigantic expressway system that rivals ours

[kurumi]

If you ever feel ugly, just remember that this sign exists.

I see what you mean; that simplified hanzi for "east". Traditional character on the left, butchered on the right

東 东

[TheGrassGuy]

If you ever feel ugly, just remember that this sign exists.

I see what you mean; that simplified hanzi for "east". Traditional character on the left, butchered on the right

東 东

The character "東" never appears on this sign. Or on any other road signs in Mainland China, for that matter.

[Chris]

[abqtraveler]

Wikipedia says that Chinese expressways are usually posted in Chinese and English, except for Inner Mongolia (Mongolian and Chinese) and Xinjiang (Uyghur and Chinese). But a road video from Qinghai on the G6 Beijing-Lhasa expressway shows some signs in Chinese, English, Mongolian, and Uyghur. Here's the video in question (note the Chinglish at 0:17)

100km/h minimum speed for cars?! (At 5:10) I could get into that.

The landscape in the video looks a lot like New Mexico!

[SkyPesos]

Wikipedia says that Chinese expressways are usually posted in Chinese and English, except for Inner Mongolia (Mongolian and Chinese) and Xinjiang (Uyghur and Chinese). But a road video from Qinghai on the G6 Beijing-Lhasa expressway shows some signs in Chinese, English, Mongolian, and Uyghur. Here's the video in question (note the Chinglish at 0:17)

100km/h minimum speed for cars?! (At 5:10) I could get into that.

The landscape in the video looks a lot like New Mexico!

That's Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia for you

On the other hand, a decent portion of the country is mountainous, so you have a lot of freeways like I-70 in CO.

[SkyPesos]

Something else I noticed with freeway interchanges in China: true diamond interchanges are rare.
On the tolled portions of the freeways, normally it's a trumpet or parclo. On the free portions in urban areas, the most common interchange looks like a diamond on a map, but functions like a SPUI with a centralized signals set. A hybrid of flyovers and loop ramps are also common for interchanges with busier arterials.

Here's an example of one of those "SPUI that looks like a diamond interchange" on Fuzhou's 2nd ring road:
- Sattelite View
- Street View (note that the extended dotted lines for the lagging protected left turns may or may not be there depending on how wide the overpass is. In this case, the overpass is 4 lanes wide)

[Chris]

An interchange on G1501 on the southeast side of Guangzhou. It's located between two large bridges of the Pearl River Delta: