A 72.65-kilometer highway connecting the hometowns of late Chinese leaders Mao Zedong and Liu Shaoqi, will be built in central China's Hunan Province from May 2006, according to the Ministry of Communications.

The highway, starting from Changsha, capital city of Hunan, will pass Huaminglou, hometown of Liu, and Huitang, a hot spring resort, and end at Shaoshan, hometown of Mao. This will be the first high grade highway specially built for tourism.

With a total investment of 960 million yuan (US$120 million), the highway will be completed by 2008. The entire investment will come from the private sector.

The hometowns of Mao and Liu are popular traveling destinations for Chinese. More than 2.5 million people visit there every year.

This road will shorten the distance by 40 kilometers, compared with the original route from Changsha to the two places.

(Xinhua News Agency March 25, 2006)