A driving tour of the 318 national highway lets you travel at your own pace and make your own adventure.

The 318 national highway, linking Shanghai in the east to Tibet in the west, is named by Chinese National Geography as China’s Landscape Avenue.

Starting from the eastern coastal city Shanghai, spanning across Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Hubei, Chongqing and Sichuan provinces and ending finally in Tibet, the 318 national highway is the longest and the most beautiful national highway in China.

The 5476km road passes plains, hills, basins and plateaus. The winding 318 highway in Sichuan. [China.com.cn/Photo by Qiu Haiying]

The 318 began being built in 1950 and took 4 years to finish. Most people start their self-guided tour from Chengdu, Sichuan Province. The section from Sichuan to Tibet is the most perilous but boasts the most breathtaking scenery.