A celebration was held in Golmud December 8 for the 45th anniversary of the opening of the world's highest road, the Qinghai-Tibet highway, winding across the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Over 1,000 officials, soldiers and local residents attended the gathering.

The highway, from Xining, capital city of Qinghai Province, to Lhasa, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, was completed and opened to traffic 45 years ago.

Linking the remote "roof of the world" with the vast inland area, the 1,937-kilometer highway is truly a lifeline for Tibet and Qinghai.

Much of highway passes through either freezing areas on high ice-capped mountains or harsh deserts that are prone to natural disasters.

Its construction involved five years of diligent effort by more than 10,000 young technicians, soldiers and workers as well as huge state investment.

The highway has been well-maintained during the 45 years. During that time, millions of passengers and millions of tons of cargo have been transported across it, and the difficulty in communication between Tibet and other parts of the country has been greatly relieved because of it.

From the 1950s to the 1980s, the central government invested two billion yuan to renovate the highway. Afterwards, heavy investment has been put into highway renovation projects and maintenance year after year.

Now the country is carrying out a new round of highway upgrades.