From: Shanghai Length 4,967 km | To: Khorgas Highway system China National Highways | |
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China National Highway 312 (312国道), also referred to as Route 312 or The Mother Road, is a key east-west route beginning in Shanghai and ending at Khorgas, Xinjiang in the Ili River valley, on the border with Kazakhstan. In total it spans 4,967 km (3,086 mi), passing through Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan, Shaanxi, Gansu before ending in Xinjiang. Besides Shanghai, cities of note on the route include Suzhou, Wuxi, Nanjing, Hefei, Xinyang, Nanyang, Xi'an, Lanzhou, Jiayuguan and Ürümqi.
Map of G312, Xinjiang Weiwuerzizhiqu, China
The road was the subject of Rob Gifford's 2007 book China Road, in which he describes traveling the entire length of Route 312 from the East China Sea to Central Asia.
The G40 Shanghai–Xi'an Expressway has replaced National Highway 312 as the main route between those two cities.