The long, long life of trees: Ecological corridors link Shanghai's rural and urban landscapes
Shot by Wang Yong. Edited by Liu Qi.
The author mimics the sound of sheep at a pasture on the southern bank of Wusong River. The pasture is not very far from the Hongqiao international transportation hub. In a way, rural and urban landscapes are becoming increasingly merged as Shanghai strives for common prosperity of the city and the country.
Sheep grazing on pasture grass, birds chirping in wetland sanctuaries, and people ambling along wooded walkways.
These are not romantic memories of a bygone agrarian society, but what I found unexpectedly in my exploration trips over the past two weeks along the rustic Wusong River valley, which lies at the upper reach of downtown Suzhou Creek.
A sheep farm in Jidong Village, Minhang District, sits on the southern bank of Wusong River.
"Dad, I saw sheep!" a small boy shouted excitedly from the backseat of a moped his father was driving as they passed by where I was standing ― a shady sheep farm on the southern bank of Wusong, an ancient river flowing from Taihu Lake in the west to Shanghai in the east. Its lower reach that passes through the city's downtown areas is called Suzhou Creek.
Like the boy, I felt thrilled at the sight of a sheep pasture which, as I found out later, is only about 9 kilometers away from the Hongqiao international transportation hub. Before I chanced upon it on April 20, my wildest imagination would not have led me to expect such a pastoral scene on the doorstep of one of the city's busiest business districts.
The sheep farm, tucked away at the back of Jidong Village, Minhang District, would have eluded many visitors had it not been for an ecological corridor, which passes through many villages along the Wusong River valley, making them more accessible to each other and to the outside world.
Well-forested
Jidong lies at the heart of the 11-kilometer-long ecological corridor, which borders downtown Changning District on the east and suburban Qingpu District on the west.
In my latest research on China's afforestation efforts ― a central topic during the national Tree-Planting Day that falls on March 12 every year ― this riverside corridor came to my notice for its officially reported forest coverage rate: an astonishing 80 percent, far above the city's average of 19 percent.
Above and below: Trees line a bird sanctuary in Jidong Village.
Words are not enough to convey my joy of jogging in the surprisingly luxuriant riverside woodland last week. Here is an attempt at a word sketch of the landscape: The corridor is like an emerald green necklace with vast rural forests and farm fields as its pearls. Here you will find yourself walking in the bosom of old and new trees. You are IN woodlands, not BY sidewalk trees as in the case of a downtown ramble.
"Eighty percent? The forest coverage rate here must be more than that!" said an energetic man in his 50s surnamed Zhang whom I met along the corridor. He was jogging with a friend when I struck up a conversation with him.
A businessman from Jiangsu Province, he settled in Jidong Village for its bucolic environment. He said that the forest coverage rate had already reached 80 percent when the ecological corridor first took shape a couple of years ago, but more trees have been planted over the years as the corridor continues to expand both westward and eastward, ready to connect Shanghai's downtown and rural areas with a biodiverse path that will eventually span about 30 kilometers to the south of Wusong River.
A similar corridor is taking shape in Jiading District on the northern bank, taking advantage of the existing rural landscapes featuring clusters of large trees and rolling fields.
"Many people from nearby towns, or even downtown regions, now come to walk, jog or cycle along this ever greener forest corridor around 6pm every day," Zhang said. "I usually jog two hours a day, either early in the morning, say at 4am, or at dusk."
Jidong is one of Minhang's seven villages along the corridor that have benefited ― environmentally or economically ― from a higher forest cover and a better connection with the urban world.
In a 10-hectare bird sanctuary in Jidong Village, for example, 32 kinds of birds were discovered by 2021, The Paper reported. By 2022, 55 kinds of birds were recorded in the sanctuary, reported Xinhua news agency. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), an ecological corridor goes a long way toward improving habitat connectivity, therefore boosting biodiversity.
By connecting as many different forests as possible, the 1.7-square-kilometer Jidong Village has created a considerable sanctuary where birds can fly and perch safely. The fenced sanctuary is open to public on condition of advance booking only, with a view to minimize human interruption of the birdlife.
As a tree lover, I was not troubled by the fences at all. The trees in the sanctuary grow so tall and luxuriantly that they branch out to cover many parts of the pedestrian paths. Moreover, the bird sanctuary is situated within a larger rural forest, which also covers the aforementioned sheep farm.
Green growth
Chinese President Xi Jinping said earlier in April that green growth is and will be an important development strategy for China, and that voluntary tree-planting helps promote afforestation and build a beautiful China.
Indeed, the World Economic Forum said it appreciated China's commitment to planting 70 billion trees in the next 10 years. The forum said: "Healthy and resilient forests are also part of people's expectations for better living qualities according to China's strategy. During the period of China's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020), the Chinese forest tourism industry grew substantially with an annual average of 1.5 billion tourists visiting national forests."
The construction of the 11-kilometer ecological corridor in Minhang District coincided with the 13th Five-Year Plan. But, as I discovered through my field research, more trees are still being planted along the corridor even today, making the rural areas more beautiful and more accessible to an outside traveler.
Above and below: Zhaojia Village in Minhang District is rich in woodlands.
Buying local
For a 70-year-old farmer surnamed Zhao in Zhaojia Village, the ecological corridor means both a healthy environment and more income for local farmers. I ran into him on April 9 when I visited Zhaojia Village, the westernmost end of the corridor.
There, I found a new stone bridge had just been built to link the village further west with another ecological corridor being created in adjacent Qingpu District. When the two corridors ― both featuring dense forests and farm fields ― are eventually merged, visitors will be able to walk, run or cycle all the way west from Minhang District to Shanghai's border with nearby Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province.
A group of expats relax by Wusong River.
"Before the corridor was built, I could only walk briefly in our crowded village, but now I walk one or two hours every day along the corridor, which has connected many riverside villages. Sometimes I go eastward to nearby Jidong Village, and sometimes I go westward to our border with Huayi Village in Qingpu District," Zhao said. "I used to feel fatigue for lack of leg exercises, but now I feel much better because I can take a long walk along the corridor whenever I want."
As we chatted while walking, a few expats and their Chinese friends were either having a picnic or playing badminton down the corridor, and some cyclists pedaled their way through the riverside woodlands. Herons soared with ease over the water, finally resting on trees beside the river.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Zhao smiled at me. "Many urban travelers now come here for exercise, and before they go home, they often buy vegetables from our village, which are cheaper and fresher than those sold in many downtown food marts."
As the corridor cuts through Zhaojia Village, I could see vegetable fields on one side and Wusong River on the other, with tree-shaded pedestrian paths meandering in between.
Above and below: Existing forests and newly planted trees grow along an ecological corridor under construction in Huayi Village, Qingpu District.
In Qingpu District's Huayi Village, which borders Zhaojia Village, a large woodland with zigzag pedestrian paths is taking shape to reach the southern bank of Wusong River. The river extends more than 12 kilometers in Qingpu's territory, linking Minhang District on the east and Suzhou City on the west.
In my field exploration, I discovered that the only "missing link" between Qingpu's and Minhang's ecological corridors is a 2-kilometer-long grass road within Huayi Village, which is somehow mixed with reed marshes. Preparatory work has begun to broaden the road and line it with many new trees.
Once the two corridors are connected, visitors will have easier access to one of Shanghai's most famous strawberry-growing areas, which lie in Qingpu District along Wusong River.
Villages reborn
Zhaojia Village, as well as Xupu Village on the easternmost end of the corridor, are two examples of how once crowded and chaotic villages have been transformed into livable and lovable places because of constant afforestation that culminated in the creation of an ecological corridor a couple of years ago.
Farmers in those two villages used to expand their housing spaces beyond legally permitted boundaries and, by renting those additional spaces to whoever had a need, collected as much income as possible.
Above and below: A contrast can be seen between present and past in Xupu Village, Minhang Distrct.
For example, in the 1.3-square-kilometer Xupu Village, which borders downtown Changning District, the total number of tenants ― mostly workers from outside the village ― once surpassed 30,000, and dirty water and waste were dumped everywhere. To put that in perspective, Shanghai's population density is about 4,000 people per square kilometer.
Illegal structures began to be dismantled in 2016, along with a beautification campaign in which land for trees was either restored or expanded. Despite an initial decline in farmers' rental revenues, an eventual increase of rental rates because of the better environment more than compensated for their losses.
New trees are being planted along an ecological corridor that passes through Xupu Village, Minhang District.
A 70-year-old farmer surnamed Xu waters newly planted trees in Xupu Village.
When I visited Xupu Village on April 15, I found new trees were being planted in an area spanning nearly 8,000 square meters along the ecological corridor, greening spaces all the way eastward to the border with Changning District.
A 70-year-old farmer surnamed Xu said he and his team had been working on afforestation along the corridor over the past year, planting Chinese tallow, cherry blossom and wisteria trees, among others.
"In peak periods, we received a dozen truckloads of various trees every day," he said.
Now a wharf and a waste treatment plant separate Minhang's ecological corridor from Changning's pedestrian esplanades along Suzhou Creek. Hopefully they will soon be linked, as Shanghai strives to connect its downtown and rural landscapes to achieve common prosperity of the city and the country.
Trees of happiness
In Zhaojia Village, a 130,000-square-meter forest park called Alice's Woodland has become a hot tourist spot for many families. Parents and children often book entry into the woodland, where they can learn how to pick fresh tea leaves in spring, or observe the beauty of fireflies in the depth of the forests.
In an article published on April 10, the Huacao Town government called the forest park, which boasts more than 300 kinds of plants, "a green boat in the sea of a metropolitan city." Zhaojia Village is under the administration of Huacao Town.
A gate leads to Alice's Woodland in Zhaojia Village.
The popularity of Alice's Woodland, which is accessible from the ever-greener ecological corridor along Wusong River, attests to what the World Economic Forum calls a growing momentum in China's forest tourism. Trees are attractive in their own way. Apart from greening the landscape, trees give us oxygen and impart a sense of wonder.
"The respiratory systems of trees, which feed on carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen, complement those of humans so well that every tree is really a tree of life," says Fiona Stafford, a professor of English at the University of Oxford and author of the book "The Long, Long Life of Trees."
Having said that "magnificent trees are natural wonders within the scope of everyone, irrespective of income or education," she concludes: "What better resource for humankind is there than its age-old companion, the tree?"
Shanghai is not just a city of high-rises but has become a city of trees that increasingly link rural and urban landscapes with a touch of nature.
