Beijing’s largest forest park—located in Songzhuang, Tongzhou, known as the Eastern Suburbs Forest Park—the first phase of which is expected to be completed and open within the year. Situated near the southeastern Sixth Ring Road, this forest park covers an area eight times the size of the Olympic Forest Park. With plans for health greenways suitable for cycling and walking, the completion of the Eastern Suburbs Forest Park will help alleviate the overcrowding at the Olympic Forest Park. It is reported that the park will feature five distinctive landscape areas: the North China Tree Garden, the Impression Forest, the Wetland Forest, the Dynamic Forest, and the Creative Forest. Once completed, the park will be open to the public free of charge.
To be completed with 89,000 mu by 2020
The Eastern Suburbs Forest Park has a planned area of 89,000 mu, with the first phase of 13,900 mu to be completed within the year and the entire project to be finished by 2020. Once completed, it will closely connect the ecological landscape belt of the North Canal and Chaobai River, the ecological protection belts of the Sixth Ring Road and the Jingping Expressway, as well as the green belts of the first and second isolation zones, making it the largest urban forest area in eastern Beijing. At the same time, the Eastern Suburbs Forest Park will link up with the Chaobai River Forest Park to the north, the Shunyi New Town Riverside Forest Park, and the Grand Canal Forest Park to the south, forming a north-south ecological leisure and recreation corridor across the eastern plain region. The Eastern Suburbs Forest Park is also a key component of the Eastern Suburbs Game Park, which is planned by the city’s gardening authorities as one of Beijing’s four major leisure parks.
The construction of the first phase mainly relies on plain afforestation. Currently, the tree species in the park include ash, ginkgo, maple, crape myrtle, Chinese pine, and more, the vast majority of which are native to Beijing.
A 3-meter-wide health greenway to be built
It is worth mentioning that the park will feature health greenways, approximately 3 meters wide, with ground surfaces paved with water-permeable and breathable colored bricks to prevent water accumulation during rainy days, making it convenient for citizens to hike or cycle. According to the plan, 35 kilometers of greenways will be completed in the park this year, including 21 kilometers in Tongzhou, 7 kilometers in Chaoyang, and 7 kilometers in Shunyi.
It is reported that the health greenways will be divided into pedestrian paths and bicycle lanes. Considering that many parks, especially their core areas, have relatively dense visitor traffic, the conditions within the parks and the core areas of suburban parks are not suitable for constructing health greenways. Therefore, the health greenways may be built around the parks.
Relevant officials told reporters that, as currently planned, the health greenways will not be just simple pathways. Along the way, there will be rest stations, visitor service centers, and historical and cultural introductions, allowing visitors to enjoy the scenery and learn about the local history while walking or cycling.
Immediate Visit
There are too few places to cycle
“Nowadays, in many parks, including the core areas of suburban parks, there are a lot of elderly people and children, and the pedestrian flow is very dense. Many cycling enthusiasts hope to ride faster, so if cyclists and pedestrians share the same space, it can be very dangerous for walkers. Therefore, in areas with high pedestrian density, it’s not very suitable to build such shared health greenways,” said Mr. Zhang from the NATOOKE Cycling Club in Wudaoying.
In the non-core areas of suburban parks where conditions allow, if the construction of health greenways is feasible, the gardening authorities will consider incorporating the greenways into the parks, providing a better cycling space for many cycling enthusiasts. “There are too few places to cycle in Beijing now. When we go cycling, we either have to go out after 8 p.m. or on weekends to the outer areas. In such a huge city like Beijing, it’s almost impossible to find a decent place for cycling—that’s just not acceptable.”
Mr. Zhang believes that if the health greenways can ensure “obstacle-free” cycling for riders, it will definitely boost the development of cycling in Beijing and encourage more people to join the green cycling movement. “There are too many obstacles on the roads now—wrong-way riders, illegal parking, and various street vendors… I hope these won’t appear on the health greenways.”