Yellow River Highway Bridge.	Jiaozuo-Zhengzhou Expressway.	Jiaozuo-Jinzheng Expressway.

With its back to the enchanting Taihang Mountains and its face to the Yellow River, Jiaozuo City in central China’s Henan Province is traditionally known as the Golden Plain of Cornucopia. But until recently, its stunning scenery had a hefty price: its mountains and rivers practically cut the city off from the rest of the nation.

This has all changed with the construction of an extensive highway network in the region. To the north, it is linked with Shanxi and Inner Mongolia via the Jincheng-Jiaozuo Expressway, while new roads to the Dalian-Huoergusi Expressway and State Highway 310 connect it to the south. The Beijing-Zhuhai Expressway and State Highway 107 is accessible to the east, while the Taiyuan-Macao Expressway and State Highway 207 lie to the west.

Yao Tian’en, chief of the Jiaozuo Highway Management Administration, is behind the city’s road building drive that begun in 1993. Yao took the then bold and unprecedented move of inviting private investors to help pay for the roads. Jiaozuo teamed up with private corporations from other parts of the mainland as well as Hong Kong to build and manage the city’s new links to the outside world. The pioneering measure proved both viable and efficient, and other regions in China have since followed suit.

The city’s social and economic conditions have seen dramatic changes since the new transportation system went into operation. For instance, local tourism has exploded in the previously inaccessible scenic gem. A major part of the project is the construction of the Yunhegu (Cloud River Valley) Resort with an investment of RMB 20 million from the Jiaozuo Highway Management Administration. It will soon be opened to tourists. Meanwhile, the construction of the Jiaozuo Yellow River Bridge has given rise to another haven for tourists, the Yellow River Bank Resort.

And the list of tourist attractions does not stop there. Now that visitors can reach the city with ease, they have the opportunity to explore the Yuntai Mountain World Geological Park that lies 36 kilometers from Jiaozuo City. Its eight fascinating sections include: Jingying (clear shadow) Garden, Jingying Gorge, Tianmen (heavenly gate) Mountain, Mopeng (millwork) Village, Huanglong (yellow dragon) Cave, Yixian (immortal) Valley, Yunquan (cloud spring) River and Wulong (five dragons) Gully. They are rapidly gaining a reputation to rival that of Guilin, one of southern China’s best renowned scenic spots.