China National Highway 209 (G209) runs from Sonid Left Banner, Inner Mongolia to Beihai, Guangxi province.Nonetheless, even that section is of importance for the national highway system: it is used e.g. by long-distance buses plying the route between Badong and points east.Many parts of the Muyu to Hongping section (in Hubei's Shennongjia Forestry District) are not much better.On the other hand, the section from the Shennongjia National Park entry to Muyu to Baishahe Village (in Nanyang Town, Xingshan County) is part of a recently upgraded Yichang-Shennongjia Highway.Another extension plan was announced in 2022, including new small purpose connection highways (601-701).
Near Wenshui village (Hongping Town, Shennongjia)
Junction with a Hubei provincial highway in Baishahe Village, Nanyang Town,
Xingshan County
, Hubei. For the next 52 km to the north (to Muyu) G209 will follow the Xiangping River, doubling as part of the
Yichang
-
Shennongjia
Highway; for the 72 km to the southwest, it will be crossing two mountain ranges to get to Badong
A not-yet-improved section of G209 just north of
Badong