A highway was opened in Yunnan province on Monday, linking the home of the country's smallest ethnic group to the outside world.

Three years ago, the government of the Nujiang Lisu autonomous prefecture began building a tunnel and asphalt dirt road from Gongshan county to Dulongjiang township - homeland of the Derung ethnic group.

The township, which borders the Tibet autonomous region to the north and Myanmar to the west, has been home to about 70 percent of the Derung ethnic group in China for centuries. Access to the township is blocked from the outside world from October to late April.

The highway cost 780 million yuan ($127 million), the distance from the township to Gongshan county was shortened to 76 km from 96 km, and the traveling time between Dulongjiang and Gongshan will be reduced to two hours from four and a half hours, said Zhou Yong, the tunnel's project manager.

Li Jiheng, Party chief of Yunnan, said the highway opening is expected to lead the Derung people to prosperity and happiness.

In April, workers successfully broke through with the 6.68-km tunnel, the last section of the highway and the longest tunnel in Yunnan's history. Fellow workers and transportation officials who were anxiously waiting at the tunnel's entrance broke into applause. The highway had been scheduled to open in June after four years of construction, but weather and the rock structure delayed the completion until this week, said Shen Haiping, deputy director of the Yunnan Department of Transport.

In January, President Xi Jinping congratulated the Derung on the yet-to-be-completed highway to Dulongjiang and sent his wishes for a better life to the ethnic group.

Two construction teams worked simultaneously from both ends of the tunnel. Zhou, the project manager, said that compared with the tunnel in Medog county in Tibet, this tunnel was much tougher because of the rock formation and shortage of food, fuel and construction materials.

The Derung have long anticipated the opening of the highway. Deng Liangdui, a 55-year-old farmer, said: "It will definitely be easier for us to go to the county seat and Kunming (the provincial capital). My villagers believe a town that is sealed off for half a year will welcome more visitors."

Contact the writers at guoanfei@chinadaily.com.cn and huyongqi@chinadaily.com.cn