The Aizhai Slope Section of the Hunan-Sichuan Highway

The Aizhai Slope Section of the Hunan-Sichuan Highway

The middle section of the Hunan-Sichuan Highway runs across the entire Xiangxi region, winding and twisting along the rugged mountains, often surpassing people’s imagination in terms of its breathtaking danger. One segment of this highway passes through Aizhai Town in Jishou City. Although the road is only about 6 kilometers long, it was constructed on a slope where the horizontal distance is less than 100 meters, the vertical height reaches as much as 440 meters, and the gradient is between 70 to 90 degrees. The constrained space forced the road to shift sideways, turning through 13 sharp hairpin bends, forming 26 nearly parallel, vertically stacked road segments — a level of peril rarely seen in China’s highways at that time.

Construction of the Aizhai Slope Section of the Hunan-Sichuan Highway began in April 1936. Over 30,000 local laborers from various counties in Xiangxi, bringing their own food and tools, marched to the site in great numbers and built this “highway wonder” with their bare hands.

Aizhai Town: A town under the jurisdiction of Jishou City. In 1950, it belonged to the Second District; in 1956, it became Aizhai Township; in 1958, it was established as Shangyou Commune; in 1984, it reverted to township status; and in 1986, it was upgraded to a town. Located in the western part of the city, it is 20 kilometers from downtown Jishou, covering an area of 93.3 square kilometers with a population of 13,000. It is a predominantly ethnic Miao town. The town government is stationed in Aizhai. National Highway 319 runs diagonally across the northeastern part. The town administers two neighborhood committees, Pingtan and Yingpan, and twelve villages: Aizhai, Jiating, Zhongwu, Busha, Xiaoxing, Liantuan, Paiyou, Xingfu, Gaocou, Yangtao, Buyu, Yangmeng, Daxingzhai, Jihao, Yangguang, Xiaolong, Pingnian, Deru, Qiaobi, … More detailed information about Aizhai Town++

Further Reading:

· Ninth Batch of Hunan Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units