Sichuan-Tibet Highway, China
Image source: Wikimedia
The dangers that come with traveling on China’s most beautiful road are almost comically numerous. Running from tropical Chengdu all the way to the frozen capital of Tibet, Lhasa, environmental dangers like rockslides, ice and snow, and high winds whipping around narrow mountain roads have pushed the death toll to 7,500 per 100,000 drivers. Stretches of the switchbacking roads are so thin, they practically invite you to plummet down into ravines, and in the summer, motorists have been known to get trapped in muddy holes for weeks; actually turning to crime and even kidnapping in order to survive.