A 424km long, second highway across China''s Taklimakan Desert was due to open on October 1. It links the towns of Hotan and Aral in the northwest Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. The project required investment of US$401 million, with work commencing in 2005. The former 2 1/2 day transit time between Hotan and Aksu has now been reduced to just 10 hours. The initial desert highway, which opened in 1995, is 522km long and connects Lunnan in the north with Minfeng in the south.