"The First Chaoyang Garden Festival and the 17th Chunfen Chaoyang Cultural Festival kicked off on the 20th at Ritan Park in Beijing. This year, Chaoyang District will promote the construction of four all-age-friendly parks: Ritan Park, Xibahe Park, Qingfeng Park, and Side Park. Additionally, they will implement six green corridor park quality improvement projects to enhance the quality of green corridor parks, increase the attractiveness and vitality of the parks, and meet the personalized recreational needs of citizens."

The parks showcase a concentration of flowers

The event site is composed of six main sections: the "Garden City" display area, the "Reading in Spring" cultural book market area, the "Date with the Garden" selfie zone, the "Opening Ceremony" artistic performance area, the "Enjoying Spring" garden coffee zone, and the "Spring Carnival" cultural market area.

In the "Garden City" display area, Chaoyang District's overall urban garden planning, six major focus areas, key projects for 2024, the "One Park, One Flower, One Product" initiative, and a spring park map are introduced. Meanwhile, at the "Reading in Spring" cultural book market area, a diverse array of books including novels, essays, anthologies, Confucian classics, poetry, children's illustrations, and more are showcased. Additionally, reading areas are set up to provide citizens and visitors with a better reading experience.

At the Platanus Square, citizens can participate for free in flower arrangement classes and "Planting Spring" themed activities to bring a piece of the "garden" back home. The "Date with the Garden" selfie zone features themed flower exhibitions from various parks such as Ritan Park, Wenyu River Park, Olympic Forest Park, Dawangjing Park, Honglingjin Park, and Chaoyang Park. Additionally, there are night-time sensor-activated flower lights for tourists to enjoy. This marks the first time that Chaoyang District's various parks have collectively showcased themed flower exhibitions.

Chaoyang flower viewing calendar released

In March, there are wintersweet and mountain peach blossoms; in April, there are February daphne and crabapple blossoms; in May, there are roses and lilacs; and in June, there are lotus flowers... In Beijing's Chaoyang District, each month brings different flowers worth admiring in various parks. At the event, Chaoyang District unveiled the Chaoyang Flower Viewing Calendar, allowing citizens and tourists to enjoy flower viewing throughout the year in different parks.

At the opening ceremony, Yang Liping, a national first-class actress and dancer, serving as the "Beijing Chaoyang Garden Festival Flower Season Ambassador," promoted and publicized the festival. Yang Liping expressed that flowers and gardening are gifts from nature and the best reflection of harmonious coexistence between humans and nature. She encouraged everyone not only to appreciate the beauty of flowers but also to understand how to protect and cultivate them, so that every green space can radiate vibrant vitality.

Yang Liping called on everyone to take proactive actions, starting from small things around them, such as participating in community greening, promoting environmental protection concepts, and conserving water and electricity. She urged everyone to contribute to the green development of the city and add luster to the beauty of China together.

Building a "Boundaryless Park" with great efforts

During this Garden Festival, several parks in Beijing's Chaoyang District will adopt the theme of "Garden City, Beautiful Chaoyang" and launch a series of creatively designed cultural activities. These events aim to allow citizens and tourists to appreciate the beauty of nature while learning about gardening culture and experiencing the charm of Chaoyang.

In recent years, Chaoyang District has been continuously promoting the expansion and improvement of large-scale green spaces, comprehensively enhancing the ecological environment and management level of green corridor areas. Up to now, Chaoyang District has constructed 16,000 hectares of urban green spaces and 6,400 hectares of park green spaces, ranking first in the city. With a green coverage rate of 48.05%, it has formed an ecological backdrop of "half forest, half city." The construction of "Boundaryless Parks" has been a major focus, with 68 such parks successfully developed, covering a total area of over 2,100 hectares, providing citizens and tourists with more open and shared urban spaces.

The total length of various greenways in Chaoyang District has reached 310 kilometers, with a planned total length of 415 kilometers. Once all types of greenways and slow-moving trails are connected, it will form a "Greenway with a View of Chaoyang," creating a green corridor. As of now, there are nearly a thousand different types of parks and green spaces in Chaoyang District, forming a city where blue and green intertwine, people and water harmonize, and water and the city merge.

Translator: BAI Jing

Reviewer: TANG Yuxin