City streets paved with seasonal foliage
The Guoxiu Road is paved with fallen leaves.
A sanitation worker picks trash from fallen leaves on Wednesday.
The view on Guoxiu Road
The city's foliage trees have taken on a splash of colors and a new street-sweeping routine is used to ensure a colorful seasonal spectacle, Shanghai greenery authorities said on Wednesday.
Fallen leaves are left on 41 streets in 13 districts this autumn.
On Guoxiu Road in Yangpu District, the leaves of soapberry trees are turning golden on Wednesday.
On the street, sanitation worker Wang Xinghai was using tongs to pick garbage like cigarette butts and plastic bags from the fallen leaves.
A new cleaning schedule requires sanitation workers to make patrols and remove trash hidden under fallen leaves to ensure a tidy and beautiful environment, the Shanghai Greenery and Public Sanitation Bureau said.
"We keep cleaning the 919-meter-long street, picking fallen seeds from leaves and branches as they are slippery, posing potential safety hazards to pedestrians," Wang told Shanghai Daily.
"At 6pm every day, I make a thorough removal of all the fallen leaves of the day because their colors will turn dull the next day," said Wang. "It also aims to keep the streets clean."
A sanitation worker removes trash from fallen leaves.
Fallen leaves on Guoxiu Road
"The landscape brightens my mood and creates a warm and colorful autumn scene," said Li Weiran, a resident passing by.
"It's the third year that fallen leaves are kept on the street, and I love the enchanting view," she added.
Guoxiao Road, also in the district, features ginkgo trees and the leaves are fan-shaped; while the district's Sujiatun Road, also among the 41-street list, is lined with high plane trees.
Visitors to Sinan, Julu, Xinhua, Yuyuan, Hunan, Yongfu, Biyun, Fangdian and Fuxing W. roads will be able to appreciate not only the golden canopies above their heads, but the vibrant foliage beneath their feet, the Shanghai Greenery and Public Sanitation Bureau said.
These streets feature a variety of tree species such as plane, soapberry, gingko and willow.
Huale Road and Jinyi Road E. in Qingpu District are among the earliest turning foliage, according to the bureau.
The colorful streetscapes created by fallen leaves on Yongfu and Fuxing W. roads in Xuhui District will last till year-end, at the latest, according to the bureau.
Street-sweeping schedules will be adjusted and sanitation workers will periodically remove the fallen leaves to keep the streets golden and vibrant, the bureau said.
The leaves shouldn’t affect the flow of traffic, the bureau said.
On rainy and humid days, or in case of public events, fallen leaves will be removed to ensure the safety of pedestrians.
