G6 Beijing–Lhasa Expressway in Tibet

The Beijing-Tibet Expressway (Chinese: 北京－西藏高速公路; pinyin: Běijīng－Xīzàng gāosù gōnglù), commonly abbreviated to Jingzang Expressway (Chinese: 京藏高速), also known as Beijing-Lhasa Expressway (Jingla Expressway; Chinese: 京拉高速公路) or China National Expressway 6, 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 a total of seven 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]

The G6 merges with the G7 in Huhhot and does not split until Linhe.

Beijing–Lhasa Expressway

北京－拉萨高速公路

Jingzang Expressway
京藏高速公路

The current Beijing–Lhasa Expressway is highlighted in red. The portion between Golmud and Lhasa, highlighted in purple, is still in planning and not constructed.