The drive westward, regardless of towering mountain ranges, brought the opening late in 1940 of the 133-mile section of the Szechwan-Sikang highway from Yaan to Kangting (Tachienlu), which, together with the 93-mile stretch Chengtu-Yaan (completed by the Szechwan provincial authorities in 1934), established the first motor route from Szechwan to Sikang.