DHAKA: The last county in China to be accessible by modern land transport was finally linked up to the rest of the country Thursday with a new road that has taken decades to build, state media said.

The 19,000 people of deeply isolated Medog in southeastern Tibet, where the mighty Brahmaputra river, known as the Yarlung Zangbo in China, winds its way between towering Himalayan peaks, have until now had to depend on horses for land travel and trade.

The 117-kilometre road took so long to build because of the precipitous topography, China National Radio reported on its website, reports The Straits Times.

Avalanches and landslides also delayed the project, which includes a 3.3-kilometre tunnel that turns a four-hour trek over a snow-capped mountain into a less than four minute drive, it added.

BDST: 1710 HRS, OCT 31, 2013
RoR/JCK