Motorists driving through the Qinling Zhongnanshan Tunnel in central China spend about 15 minutes travelling beneath one of the country’s most formidable mountain ranges. Stretching 18.02 kilometres through the Qinling Mountains in Shaanxi Province, the twin-bore highway tunnel transformed what was once a slow, winding mountain crossing into a journey that takes less than an hour between Xi’an and Zhashui.