A 26-year-old tour guide from China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region has captured the hearts of millions of online users, after a spontaneous, heartfelt video of her introducing a landmark infrastructure project went viral across Chinese social media. Now, Dilinur Tursunjan says her biggest personal wish after the viral fame is to cross the Taiwan Strait and visit the Taiwanese family that became her close friends during their Xinjiang trip.
Dilinur first connected with the family from Taiwan last October, when the group began their cross-regional tour of Xinjiang, starting in the northern part of the autonomous region and extending to southern Xinjiang this past March. Over the course of nearly a month traveling together, a deep, warm bond formed between Dilinur and the family. She describes their connection as something even closer than ordinary friendship, built on shared experiences and mutual respect during their journey across Xinjiang’s stunning landscapes.
It was during this trip that Dilinur filmed the viral clip, as she brought the Taiwanese family to visit the newly opened Tianshan Shengli Tunnel. The video, which captured her genuine pride in the mega-engineering project, quickly spread across major social platforms, racking up millions of views and likes and sparking widespread discussion among netizens that lasted for days.
In the video, Dilinur shared a powerful reflection on the tunnel’s construction: “Because our people need this open, accessible road, our great motherland can move mountains and redirect rivers. Drilling through the Tianshan Mountains was never an easy task, but we got it done because the wellbeing of our people waits on the other side of the range.” Her unscripted, sincere words resonated deeply with viewers across the country.
Stretching 2,500 kilometers across northwest China, the Tianshan Mountains have long formed a natural divide between northern and southern Xinjiang, creating long, slow travel routes between the two regions. Completed after just over four years of construction, the 22.13-kilometer Tianshan Shengli Tunnel holds the title of the world’s longest expressway tunnel, and opened to public traffic in December 2025. The project cut what was once a three-hour mountain crossing down to a smooth 20-minute drive, transforming connectivity for local residents and travelers alike.
While guiding the Taiwanese family through the site, Dilinur explained the immense challenges construction crews overcame to complete the project. Workers labored at altitudes above 4,000 meters, where they faced constant exposure to freezing temperatures, low oxygen levels, and extremely complex geological conditions rife with sudden hazards including landslides, rock bursts, and unexpected water inrushes. Leveraging a suite of cutting-edge, world-class innovative construction technologies, Chinese engineering teams successfully completed the tunnel in an impressive 52 months, beating expectations for such a complex high-altitude project.
Dilinur emphasized that her viral comments were completely unscripted and came straight from her heart. She told reporters that when she was researching background information to prepare for the tour, the story of the tunnel’s construction left a deep impression on her, and her overwhelming pride in this extraordinary national project made her words flow naturally on camera.
Now, after forming such a close bond with her Taiwanese guests, Dilinur says she is eager to make the trip to Taiwan to see them, and to experience the island’s natural scenery and culture in person, turning the cross-Strait friendship built on a Xinjiang road trip into a new shared memory.