Highway tunnel opens world to Derung ethnic group

People in Dulongjiang, a township in Yunnan province, celebrate on Thursday after the breakthrough of a highway tunnel through a 3,000-meter mountain. The tunnel forms part of a highway connecting the township populated by the Derung people, China's smallest ethnic group, to the provincial highway network. The route is expected to open in June. Zhou Mingjia for China Daily

Project will help bring an end to the isolation of ethnic group

A controlled explosion on Thursday signaled the breakthrough of a highway tunnel in the final stage of a project in remote Dulongjiang township to connect China's Derung ethnic group, the country's smallest, with the county seat of Gongshan in Yunnan province.

The highway, which is expected to open in June, will provide a lifeline to the ethnic group, which is cut off from the outside half of every year because of heavy snow.

The project has been underway for four years.

At around 1:28 pm, explosives were set off, and news of the successful breakthrough in the 6.88-kilometer-long tunnel, the longest in Yunnan, exhilarated hundreds of workers and transportation officials who waited anxiously at the tunnel's entrance.

The new tunnel had two construction teams working simultaneously from both ends, the Yunnan transportation department said.

Last month, President Xi Jinping congratulated workers on the highway and sent his wishes for a better life to members of the ethnic group.

Upon its completion, the highway will usher visitors to the border towns that neighbor Myanmar.

The government of Nujiang Lisu autonomous prefecture started the project in January 2011.