BEIJING — On a riverbank on the outskirts of China’s densely populated capital, a sign posted on a blocked-off walkway silently warned people to stay away: “This is black swan incubation period. Please tread quietly.”
Visitors to the Qinghe Seaside Green Corridor watched from an observation deck above as swans guarded their eggs in their nests and occasionally got annoyed by ducks that got too close. Other birds swam nearby as the sun lit up the water through a clear blue sky.
“At first there were no ducks, but as the environment has improved, now swans from the Old Summer Palace come here,” Liu Junping said, referring to the nearby former Summer Palace.
“Qinghe” means “clear river” in Chinese, but Beijing residents only recently started calling the canal, which runs along a major road in the city’s Haidian district, “Qinghe.” The improvement comes as a result of upgrades to a nearby sewage treatment plant that was previously overcapacitated and sometimes dumped raw sewage directly into the river.
Liu, who comes to the riverside park for walks every day, said it has a “nice atmosphere.”
“The water here used to smell bad,” he says, “but now it’s been treated so well that there are fish everywhere.”
The roughly two-thirds-mile-long Qinghe Green Corridor, which opened last October, is part of a larger greening project in Beijing and across China aimed at improving environmental standards and people’s quality of life.
“Beijing is so densely populated, there are too many people, so everyone feels a lot of pressure,” said Jing Yang, 28, who visited the park. “By creating a park like this, people of all ages can relax and unwind from work, and it can satisfy people of all ages.”
Parks have long been a feature of Beijing, a city of more than 22 million people, and its most famous green spaces include the former imperial gardens of Beihai Park and Jingshan Park. But the pace of park construction is accelerating, with state media reporting in January that the goal is to ensure that 91 percent of residents have access to green space within about a third of a mile.
According to the Beijing Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Commission, Beijing currently has 1,065 parks, with more than 180 square feet of green space per person.
“The goal is to make Beijing a garden capital with clear skies, clean water, abundant forests and a harmonious living environment,” it said in a statement.
Liu Dongyun, an associate professor at the School of Landscape Architecture at Beijing Forestry University, said that over the past 20 years, Beijing and most other Chinese cities have made “huge investments” in landscaping and green spaces.
“I feel like this is an investment that people can really see, touch and experience the leisure opportunities it brings,” he said.
Since about 2000, green space per person nationwide has increased from less than 50 square feet to about 160 square feet, he said.
The importance of green spaces in cities across China has become more apparent in recent decades, as rapid urbanization has brought with it suffocating air pollution that peaked in Beijing around 2013. While air quality has improved since then, parks remain a welcome respite from the fast pace and relentless traffic of a sprawling city like Beijing, especially for young people rebelling against China’s harsh working conditions.
This spring, the hashtag “20 minutes in the park effect” became popular on Xiaohongshu, China’s version of Instagram, as users posted photos of themselves picnicking by lakes or sunbathing on benches.
People’s desire for a park has been strengthened by three years of some of the world’s toughest coronavirus restrictions, including lockdowns in Shanghai and other cities that kept tens of millions of people largely confined to their homes.
Some outdoor enthusiasts are trying to make up for lost time.
“During the pandemic, it was dangerous and difficult to go out, so many people avoided going out,” said a woman surnamed Jiang, who was visiting Jingzhang Railway Heritage Park in northwest Beijing.
Now, “not only are more people going for walks, but there’s also more outdoor activity and travel,” she says.
Jiang, 26, who, like many Chinese, declined to give his real name to reporters, said he felt the quality of the environment in Beijing was “much better” than before the pandemic.
“People used to joke that the sky would only be blue when there was a conference or a big event,” she said, “but for the past three years, I’ve found the air quality to be pretty good.”
The Jingzhang Railway Cultural Park, which opened last year, features historic train carriages and is more than 5.5 miles long, built on the former tracks of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway, China’s first independently built railway. Chinese state media reported that the park was inspired by New York’s High Line.
Zhu Lixia, a retired Chinese language teacher who lives nearby, said the railway park has “made our lives better”.
“We can hang out whenever we want, and see if there are any activities we can join,” she says. “One day there was a calligraphy class in the park, and we all joined in. Some people brought speakers and sang.”
Before the opening, she said, “I had nowhere to go.” She went to more remote locations, like the Botanical Gardens, the Summer Palace and Yuyuantan Park.
“When I come to this park I feel happier and more relaxed,” she said.
Liu, who was involved in the planning and design of Railway Park, said the park is a good example of a linear park that connects different spaces. Unlike many other parks in Beijing, he said, the park is not surrounded by physical walls, but is open to the surrounding city.
“This will not only unify the whole city but also promote the regeneration and development of the surrounding area,” he said.
After years of intense construction, Liu acknowledged, “we can’t simply keep building the park indefinitely.”
“The focus now is on properly operating and maintaining existing parks,” he said, “and adding more facilities and activities to encourage use by the public.”
