Society

Greenery rises on Tian'anmen Square

By Cheng Yingqi (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-03-25 08:00

BEIJING - Shrubs will soon sprout along the east and west sides of Tian'anmen Square, replacing the existing lawn to make the capital's most famous landmark more lively, local media reported.

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Currently the lawns on the two sides of the square occupy 9,600 square meters of land, symbolizing the 9.6 million square kilometers of land in the country. Now the city's landscape and forestry bureau plans to replace the lawn with shrubbery, Beijing News reported on Thursday.

Previously, the bureau had removed the lawn every October to make way for the National Day flower terrace and restored the grass following the festival.

"After the renovation we will keep the shrubbery permanent, unless there are particular activities on the square that require the space," said Yang Zhihua, an official in charge of the project in the Beijing landscape and forestry bureau.

"In the future, we will narrow the size of the flower terrace on the square during regular festival celebrations, and will possibly eliminate the flowerbeds on the two sides," Yang was quoted by Beijing News as saying.

The project started on Wednesday and will be finished by late April. Workers are busy fencing around the lawn area and digging up the ground.

The workers will first lay watering pipelines and circuits under the ground for irrigation and decoration.

Then they will plant euonymus, an evergreen shrub, and clip auspicious cloud patterns on the shrubbery to express harmony. Euonymus, or spindle, resists the cold weather in Beijing.

Besides being easy to maintain, euonymus can also generate more oxygen for visitors to the square. During the first four days of last year's National Day holiday, the number of daily visits reached 875,000 at Tian'anmen Square.

"A permanent green belt will save the trouble of building a flower terrace every year, and will save a lot of money," said Lin Chuan, a 24-year-old Beijing resident.

Chen Meng, a 29 year-old Shanghai resident, said she worried the shrub belt will make the square "look rigid".

"The square will be less impressive and less joyful without the grand flower terrace on holidays," she said.

The city's landscape and forestry bureau declined to comment on these concerns.