FILE: Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northwest China - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Aerial shots of self-driving trip

Beijing, China - Recent (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
2. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Zhang Guangzhi, self-driving enthusiast (starting with shot 1/ending with shot 3):
"Since 2007, I have been to Xinjiang seven times in 15 years. In those days, the national highway 315 (G315) was not built, and I drove hundreds of kilometers without seeing a village. In recent years, dramatic changes have occurred in Xinjiang, with roads extending in all directions, even in the desert. China has also made great achievements in building information superhighways based on the Internet. Even in its uninhabited areas, the network signal is quite strong."

FILE: Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northwest China - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
3. Aerial shots of roads

China - Recent (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
4. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Wang Yue, self-driving enthusiast (partially overlaid with shots 5-7/ending with shots 8-9):
"We are a couple who love to travel. I remember when we went on a trip and drove along the road in the Jiajin Mountain. The Jiajin Mountain is the first snow-covered mountain crossed by the Red Army during the Long March. My grandfather is a Red Army veteran who participated in the Long March. When I saw the monument commemorating the Red Army's Long March on the mountain, I thought that maybe this is the place my grandfather walked by. That night we stayed at the top of the Jiajin Mountain, where we saw the sea of clouds in the moonlight and the most beautiful and clearest starry sky on our journey."

++SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
FILE: Ya'an City, Sichuan Province, southwest China - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
5. Aerial shot of Jiajin Mountain
6. Photo of stone inscriptions
7. Photos of monument commemorating Red Army's Long March on Jiajin Mountain, brief introduction to memorial site of Red Army's Long March on Jiajin Mountain
++SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
8. Fast motion of sea of clouds
9. Fast motion of starry sky

FILE: China - Exact Location and Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
10. Aerial shot of self-driving trip
11. Photo of countryside, recreational vehicle
12. Photo of trees

China - Recent (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
13. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Zhang Zhiwu, self-driving enthusiast (starting with shots 11-12/ending with shot 14):
"My wife and I are very fond of road trips. I have been to 58 countries including some developed countries, and I feel that expressways in China are as good as or even better than theirs."

FILE: China - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
14. Aerial shots of highways, traffic

FILE: southwest China - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
15. Picture of elderly parents during self-driving trip
16. Various of elderly parents on sightseeing

Shanghai, China - Recent (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
17. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Zhang Zhiwu, self-driving enthusiast (starting with shots 14-16):
"Expressways bring us a very convenient travel option. About two years ago, I took my parents on a driving trip across the nation. I covered 20,000 kilometers in three months, which would be completely impossible in those days when there were only provincial highways. I hope that more people will get in their car and drive to have a sightseeing of our picturesque motherland."

FILE: China - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
18. Aerial shots of highways, traffic

More and more travelers in China choose to drive to tourist destinations, a way considered more convenient and less risky as they embrace the open air amid the receding COVID-19 pandemic.

Booming self-driving trips can be attributed to the country's developed expressway network.

From zero to 160,000 kilometers, China has built the world's largest expressway network in less than four decades. The network has connected 99 percent cities and regions whose urban population exceeds 200,000, according to the Ministry of Transport.

The network will be expanded to cover all cities and counties with a population exceeding 100,000 by 2035, it said.

In the meantime, technology has made transportation smarter, featuring timely monitoring of expressway conditions and handling of emergencies. Based on the Beidou satellite navigation system, big data and cloud computing, a smart road network management platform is under development.

Some self-driving enthusiasts shared their experiences in road travels and detailed the changes they witnessed in recent years.

"Since 2007, I have been to Xinjiang seven times in 15 years. In those days, the national highway 315 (G315) was not built, and I drove hundreds of kilometers without seeing a village. In recent years, dramatic changes have occurred in Xinjiang, with roads extending in all directions, even in the desert. China has also made great achievements in building information superhighways based on the Internet. Even in its uninhabited areas, the network signal is quite strong," said Zhang Guangzhi who has 21 years of self-driving experience covering 800,000 kilometers.

"We are a couple who love to travel. I remember when we went on a trip and drove along the road in the Jiajin Mountain. The Jiajin Mountain is the first snow-covered mountain crossed by the Red Army during the Long March. My grandfather is a Red Army veteran who participated in the Long March. When I saw the monument commemorating the Red Army's Long March on the mountain, I thought that maybe this is the place my grandfather walked by. That night we stayed at the top of the Jiajin Mountain, where we saw the sea of clouds in the moonlight and the most beautiful and clearest starry sky on our journey," said Wang Yue, a self-driving enthusiast.

"My wife and I are very fond of road trips. I have been to 58 countries including some developed countries, and I feel that expressways in China are as good as or even better than theirs," said 73-year-old Zhang Zhiwu.

"Expressways bring us a very convenient travel option. About two years ago, I took my parents on a driving trip across the nation. I covered 20,000 kilometers in three months, which would be completely impossible in those days when there were only provincial highways. I hope that more people will get in their car and drive to have a sightseeing of our picturesque motherland," said Wu Jiandong, a professional photographer who has been engaged in the tourism industry for 30 years.