Official statistics show that more than 189 million trees have been planted voluntarily by residents of Beijing over the past 30 years, making great contributions to the capital's environment.

 

　　The local government also plans to cover more of downtown with greenery in 2013. This way residents can enjoy green leaves wherever they go.

 

　　Wang Xiao has more.

 

　　More than half of Beijing is considered to be green. That's an increase of some 10 per cent from ten years ago thanks to previous planting programs.

 

　　Tong Yonghong, a senior official with the Municipal Bureau of Landscape and Forestry, says that there have been many achievements in afforestation in Beijing over the past few years.

 

　　"Forest covers a little under 40% of Beijing. That's 15.5 square meters per person. In 2013,we plan to plant 58 thousand acres of trees in Beijing."

 

　　The municipal government plans to turn more than 23,000 hectares of barren and uncultivated land into green fields this year. They also want to convert around 70,000 hectares of wasteland into a green belt by the end of 2016.

 

　　However, the distribution of green space is unbalanced. While large areas of forests can be found in the city's mountainous areas, many residents complain that the severely crowded downtown area lacks a sufficient number of trees.

 

　　"I'm not satisfied with the urban greening. I admit that Beijing has lots of trees, but most of them are planted in parks on the outskirts of Beijing. There are few trees in downtown areas. For example, there are 40 buildings in my community, but only a few trees have been planted. We can't even see the green. I remember there used to be a green belt in front of the gate of my college. But the trees have been pulled out in order to widen the road."

 

　　"It's easy to see trees in Beijing, but the problem is the trees are too small while the road is too wide. I remember when I was in Hangzhou, the branches of the trees on the two sides of the roads intertwine. It feels cool and comfortable in summer days when you walk on these roads. It's hard to find a road like this in Beijing."

 

　　Yang Zhihua is the Director of the Urban Greening Office at the Municipal Bureau of Landscape and Forestry. He promises more green space will open to the public this year.

 

　　"The local government is trying to ensure that the residents can find a green area or a small park within 500 meters of their community. By the end of 2015, the coverage of those green areas around communities will reach 80%, so that the residents can easily enjoy a green surrounding."

 

　　Yang Zhihua admits that it's very hard to plant a large amount of trees in the downtown area due to a lack of land, but he says that the local government has started comprehensive greening projects to enlarge green space.

 

　　"Comprehensive planting projects include roof greening and vertical greening. Vertical greening means to plant vegetables on the facades of building, overpasses, and along railing. It can help to enlarge the green space in the capital's downtown area."

 

　　Yang says that more green areas and leisure parks have been built in Dongcheng and Xicheng districts, the most densely populated areas in Beijing. He believes that residents will have a greener Beijing in the near future.

 

　　For CRI, I'm Wang Xiao.