China's audacity knows no bounds, and it now chooses to split mountains as if they were butter instead of drilling tunnels to create highways.

China is once again surprising the world with unprecedented engineering techniques. After overcoming challenges such as building a highway with 18 switchbacks and a gradient of over 40% in just 453 meters , and erecting the world's tallest bridge , at 625 meters high, the Asian giant has now taken its audacity a step further. In Guizhou province, instead of drilling a tunnel, it has opted to literally cut the mountain in half to make way for a new highway.

This new infrastructure, designed to shorten travel times between mountainous regions, combines controlled explosives, heavy machinery, and a thorough geological study to ensure terrain stability. The resulting walls, up to 200 meters high, are reinforced with wire mesh, shotcrete, and drainage systems, creating a safe and direct passage that reduces travel time from hours to just minutes.

The technique is not limited to Guizhou. It is also used in the mountainous provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan, where the karst terrain makes the construction of conventional tunnels virtually impossible. Projects such as the Guiyang-Qianxi Expressway or the Taihang Mountain Pass have turned journeys that previously took hours into mere minutes, improving connectivity and facilitating the transport of goods and passengers.

Even some sections of the high-speed railway connecting Beijing to Guangzhou cross mountains that are literally split in half.

Although China has taken this technique to an unprecedented scale, it is not entirely new worldwide. Norway uses it in its fjords, where cutting rock is more feasible than drilling it, while the United States used similar methods in the Cumberland Gap in the Appalachians, albeit on a smaller scale. The difference lies in the ambition and scale of the projects: the Chinese have turned mountain cutting into a true engineering art.

However, this extreme form of construction is not without controversy. Experts warn about its environmental impact, as the fragmentation of mountains can accelerate erosion, cause landslides, and fragment local wildlife habitats. Furthermore, machinery and explosives generate dust and noise for months, affecting the surrounding ecosystem. To minimize these effects, authorities implement mitigation measures, such as containment nets, controlled drainage, or animal passages.

For these projects to transform the landscape without causing damage, planning and environmental responsibility are essential. On the one hand, shortening distances and reducing travel times opens up economic and social opportunities, connecting remote villages with large urban centers. On the other hand, every intervention in the landscape requires a careful analysis of geological and environmental risks.

Despite everything, Chinese engineering demonstrates that, with planning and technology, it is possible to transform entire regions, albeit at costs and with challenges that must be carefully managed.