China National Highway 217

{{Short description|Road in China}}

{{Infobox road

|country=CHN

|type=G

|route=217

|map=G217-路线图.svg

|length_km= 1753

|terminus_a= Altay, Xinjiang

|junction=

|terminus_b= Kuqa County, Xinjiang

|previous_type=G

|previous_route=216

|previous_dab=

|next_type=G

|next_route=218

|next_dab=

}}

File:G217 ghost city.jpg]]

File:G217 Duku.jpg

China National Highway 217 (G217) runs south from Altay, Xinjiang to Hotan, Xinjiang. It is 1,753 kilometres in length and runs southwest from Altay towards Kuqa County and from there southwards through the Taklamakan Desert to Hotan.

The highly scenic mountainous section between Dushanzi and Kuqa that crosses the Tianshan Mountains is commonly known as Duku Highway (独库公路). A section of Duku Highway also crosses the Bayanbulak Grassland National Nature Reserve.{{cite journal|last1=Baiping|first1=Zhang|title=Human-Induced Changes to Biodiversity and Alpine Pastureland in the Bayanbulak Region of the East Tianshan Mountains|journal=Mountain Research and Development|date=November 2002|volume=22|issue=4|pages=383–389|url=http://www.igsnrr.ac.cn/xwzx/jxlwtj/200505/P020090715578274117871.pdf|access-date=14 May 2022|doi=10.1659/0276-4741(2002)022[0383:hictba]2.0.co;2}}