CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- “It is so amazing!”

It was sunny in Chongqing on October 15. Meng Xiaobo, a tourist from Shandong Province, stood on Sunlight Veranda, Opening Port Heritage Park, Nan’an District, looking out over the sparkling Yangtze River, Dongshuimen Bridge crossing the two riverbanks, and the gray tiles and yellow walls of Huguang Guild Hall on the other side.

This Sunlight Veranda is located halfway up the mountain in Ma'anshan area of Nanbin Road, with a total area of more than 3,000 square meters, which is the most pleasant and broadest view position of the Opening Port Heritage Park.

This was a road, with vehicles coming and going; and it has been turned into a public area for tourists and citizens to enjoy the beauty of the “two rivers and four banks”. The Sunlight Veranda of the Opening Port Heritage Park has been popular since it opened on September 28.

In recent days, the reporter has found that at several attractions along the “two rivers and four banks”, this kind of small changes to optimize the urban spaces and facilitate tourists and citizens from the planning level could be fund everywhere.

Highway with “covers”

The Sunlight Veranda is also used for leisure and parking.

“At the beginning of its planning, the Opening Port Heritage Park has taken into account the needs of historical heritage, urban architectural landscape and public space.” Fang Qianjiang, Deputy Director of the Architectural Branch of Chongqing Planning and Design Institute, said that the Opening Port Heritage Park was positioned as a “stand” from Nan’an District to Yuzhong District along the “two rivers and four ./banks” area, and the Sunlight Veranda was born accordingly.

He introduced that Ma’anshan area where the Opening Port Heritage Park is located was originally a complete hillside with a height difference of 72 meters. With the increasing development of urban construction, a road crosses from the mountainside and connects multiple communities on both sides of the Park.

From the traffic point of view, this road should be preserved for the convenience of people. But from the perspective of the Park, a road across the mountainside is neither beautiful nor convenient for tourists to visit. To this end, Nan’an District made full use of space and added a three-story platform to this road.

The reporter saw that the first story of the platform was built as a leisure sports area, with skateboarding facilities and public rest areas; the second story is a parking lot; and the third story is the Sunlight Veranda. Among the three stories, tourists and citizens can walk or take elevator, which is convenient and comfortable.

The person in charge of the park operator said that from the foot of the mountain to the top, 8 cultural relic protection buildings, 2 excellent historical buildings and 7 old buildings after reconstruction including the old site of Little Foreign Firm are connected in series with the help of the Sunlight Veranda, and the tour line is more humane.

Hongyadong has been done many improvement works

Scenic walkway width is increased by 120%

The place where is also humane is Hongyadong Folk Customs Area which is another attraction along the “two rivers and four riverbanks”.

Before the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday this year, many citizens found that the sidewalk along Hongyadong Section of Jiabin Road became wider. “It is at least twice as wide as before,” said Zhang Chunliang, a longtime resident nearby.

It turned out that without any new spaces, the sidewalk along Hongyadong Section of Jiabin Road was widened from the original 2.5 meters to 5.5 meters, with an increase rate of 120%.

How can sidewalk widening be achieved in the limited urban space? The relevant person in charge of the Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Bureau introduced that this widened section was to take into account the practical needs of tourists and “cut” from the driveway.

In recent years, Hongyadong has become more and more popular, but the walking space for viewing is insufficient, and it is often “crowded” with tourists, which is neither comfortable nor safe for tourists.

Since June this year, the Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Bureau, working together with Yuzhong District Government and relevant departments, re-organized and planned the pedestrian space along Hongyadong Section of Jiabin Road, and finally decided to reduce the lane width and increase the sidewalk width.

The widening of the sidewalk won “praises”. Statistics show that during the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday, Hongyadong received 878,000 person-times. The relevant person in charge of Yuzhong District said that after the widening of the sidewalk along Hongyadong Section of Jiabin Road, tourists have a good experience and the departments can better carry out safety management, getting two results from one effort. (Translated by Liu Hongyan, Fathom Language Limited)