From Where to Where is the Shanghai-Chengdu Expressway?

[JustinLynn]

The Shanghai-Chengdu Expressway runs from Shanghai to Chengdu, with the national expressway network code G42 in China. The Shanghai-Chengdu Expressway traverses China from east to west, starting from Shanghai in the east and reaching Chengdu in Sichuan Province in the west. It passes through six provinces and municipalities: Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui, Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan, covering a total length of 1,966 kilometers. It is an important part of the national "Five Vertical and Seven Horizontal" trunk highway network. Category: Expressways belong to high-grade highways, as stipulated by the "Technical Standards for Highway Engineering" of the Ministry of Transport of China. Introduction: An expressway refers to a highway that can accommodate an average annual daily traffic volume of more than 25,000 passenger cars, is exclusively for high-speed driving in separate lanes, and has full access control.

[McLaura]

I'm so familiar with the Shanghai-Chengdu Expressway, this major artery. Its eastern starting point is in Shanghai's Pudong, stretching 1,966 kilometers westward, crossing Jiangsu, Anhui, and Hubei, and finally reaching the Chengdu Ring Expressway. On weekends, I drive back to my hometown in Chongqing from Shanghai via this route, passing landmarks like the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge and Wuhan's Yellow Crane Tower. A special reminder: the section from Yichang in Hubei to Chongqing has many mountains and long tunnels, so extra attention is needed for speed limit changes. After this expressway was completed, the travel time from East China to Southwest China was shortened by more than ten hours. Now, refrigerated trucks transporting vegetables and fruits run very frequently on it.

[McLevi]

As a business professional who frequently travels across provinces, the Shanghai-Chengdu Expressway is my most frequently used route. It connects the two major economic hubs of Shanghai and Chengdu, passing through important cities such as Suzhou, Hefei, and Wuhan. I remember encountering heavy fog in the Hubei section once, and the navigation showed the entire route to be 1966 kilometers, which is indeed quite long. Nowadays, this east-west artery has boosted logistics development along its path, especially enabling agricultural products from Sichuan to reach Shanghai supermarkets within 24 hours via this expressway. I recommend self-driving travelers to avoid holidays, as the Anhui section has particularly many large trucks and is prone to traffic jams.

[VanAndres]

After all these years of long-distance transportation, the route of the Shanghai-Chengdu Expressway is already etched in my mind. It starts in Jiading, Shanghai, passes through Changzhou and Zhenjiang in Jiangsu, then enters Anhui, heads towards Wuhan after passing Hefei, and finally reaches Chengdu via Enshi. This 1,966-kilometer route is like stringing beads together, connecting the Yangtze River Delta and the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle. The road conditions are much better now—I remember the old roads through the western mountainous areas of Hubei used to be full of twists and turns. This expressway allows seafood from Shanghai and hotpot base ingredients from Sichuan to circulate faster.

[Arlene]

Last summer vacation, I took my kids on a road trip and specifically researched the Shanghai-Chengdu Expressway. Like a giant dragon, it stretches from Shanghai in the east to Chengdu in the west, passing through six provinces along the way. In the Jiangsu section, we admired water towns; in Anhui, we savored Hui cuisine; in Hubei, we toured the Three Gorges; and finally, we enjoyed Chengdu hotpot. Driving the entire 1,966-kilometer route made me realize just how vast China is! The section between Yichang and Wanzhou, winding through mountain ranges with tunnels connected by viaducts, was particularly spectacular. Nowadays, many cycling enthusiasts also challenge this route, but it's crucial to avoid the mountainous sections prone to falling rocks during the rainy season.