‘Does China have highways?’ shouldn’t even be a question: netizens

Does China have highways? This silly question was raised by an unidentified netizen in the U.S. on the question-and-answer site Quora, and it got a lot of replies from netizens who clearly know a lot more about China.

“I hope that this is a fake question. Do you think China is like in 1900? This is modern China, the second wealthiest country in the world,” a netizen wrote.

Another replied by saying that the length of Chinese highways has increased to a total length of 130,000 kilometers. That number is higher than the U.S., so raising such a silly question is either the result of Western media influence or because of ignorance about China.

Fortune Magazine said in a 2013 report that in the past decade alone, China has built 31,000 miles of expressways. That is about two-thirds the length of the entire U.S. Interstate Highway System, which was constructed at great cost since it was started some 60 years ago.

China will extend the length of its highways by another 5,000 kilometers this year. A Chinese company has shown interest in building a new highway that links the Coquimbo Region in Chile to San Juan Province in Argentina, Reuters said.