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DALI CITY, YUNNAN PROVINCE - At a rest stop by the tollgate of the Chuxiong-Dali expressway, truck driver Yang Peiyong puffs on a cigarette as he recalls the bad times on this road. Mr. Yang, a stocky, cheerful man, has been transporting sugar, tea, timber, and nuts along this road for 20 years, seven or eight times a month.

When the road was narrow and congested, he says, the 179-kilometer (km) journey could take more than four hours.

“If there was an accident, traffic would be backed up for several kilometers,” he remembers.

Today, he says, a four-lane expressway has made the trip faster, cheaper, and safer. The $627 million project, completed in 1998, was partly financed with a $150 million loan from ADB.

Sitting in a patrol car by the tollgate, Wu Guangfa, who has been a traffic officer on the highway since it opened, confirms that the safety barrier dividing the highway has greatly reduced the number of accidents, especially head-on collisions.

He notes, however, that some drivers doze off and bump into the barriers. Otherwise, Mr. Wu says, his main headache is dealing with the theft of traffic signs.

Farther up the highway, trader Lu Jian, who deals in a rare kind of wild mushroom, reports that business has boomed since the travel time to the Kunming airport has been cut by some two thirds to only three hours.

He buys the mushrooms—a specialty of Yunnan Province—from small farmers and exports them to Japan and the Republic of Korea.

“But they must be fresh,” notes Mr. Lu. “The highway means I can get them on the plane within a day and this has helped boost sales.”

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The project also involved upgrading nearly 700 km of feeder roads, which has helped link remote communities to urban centers.

For example, in the village of Tianshengtang, off the highway, is the Primary School of Hope, where 85% of the children belong to the Yi group, one of Yunnan’s many minorities.

The expressway company’s Gen- eral Manager, Hu De Jun, proudly points to an inscription by the gate that notes a company donation helped rebuild the school.

School Director Duan Xingwan says the number of pupils has risen from 150 to 257, partly because of better facilities and partly because of roads that provide easier access to the students who come by bus.

Zi Xiuhua, one of only three Yi teachers, says many of the Yi children, who come from mountain villages, don’t speak Chinese when they arrive. Instruction is bilingual for the first two grades and thereafter in Chinese.

Ms. Zi says that, thanks to the school, some Yi children are going on to university and finding good jobs—the key to escaping poverty.

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Such snapshots of life along the highway contribute to the overall picture of how improved transport links in this mountainous and relatively undeveloped western province have brought new prosperity to both the poor and the business community.

An ADB project completion report notes that two municipalities and four counties traversed by the expressway have experienced economic growth rates higher than the national average.

“Our economy was doing poorly before 1998, but the expressway has hastened development with improved transport and communication,” says Huang Hongzhi, Deputy Governor of Nanhua County. “Private business has risen 25% since the expressway opened and more enterprises are coming.”

The flower business is one that is prospering from Yunnan’s mild climate and the growing trend of giving flowers to mark all kinds of occasions.

One nursery situated by the highway near Dazhuang Village, between the provincial capital of Kunming and Chuxiong, has hired more staff to meet rising sales.

“We get a lot of walk-in business from people driving by who are attracted by the bright colors of our flowers,” says nursery administrator Jiang Ming.

Mr. Ming says his firm operates five other nurseries in the province, and competition is stiff. All this is good news for women like Hu Mei, who has been a nursery worker for 7 years and contributes 500 yuan ($62) a month to the family income.

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Increased tourism has benefited the province as a whole, but especially the ancient city of Dali at the end of the expressway.

Dali is also a resort town, bordered by snow-capped mountains and a large lake, and is known for its old city and pagodas dating from the Sung and Tang dynasties.

Zhao Biao, Vice-Director of Dali Tourism Bureau, says that the number of visitors to Dali City has grown steadily from 3 million in 1997 to 4.6 million in 2001 since the completion of the expressway and a railway (also in 1998).

Most of the tourists come by road from other parts of the country. As a result, tourism’s share of Dali City’s gross domestic product has jumped from 10% in 1998 to more than 30% today, creating many new jobs.

Orchid grower Sun Zhi Yong, who exports orchids to Japan, Republic of Korea, and Taipei,China, says his Dali business has tripled, largely because of tour groups, both of orchid lovers and general tourists.

Marble “painter” Wang Min, who cuts and frames pieces of Dali’s famous marble, says his business has also gained from an increase in walk-in visitors.

Clearly, the expressway not only has reduced traffic congestion, accidents, and vehicle operating costs, but also has brought wide economic benefits to the whole region.

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