CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- As various flowers are awakened in March, the ‘train bound for spring’ in Chongqing starts its journey again:

The trains of Chongqing Rail Transit (CRT) Line 2 run through Yuzhong Fotuguan Park decked out in beautiful Prunus blireana ‘Meiren’ (also known as the ‘beauty plum’) and azaleas; the ‘Time Cable Car’ next to Lijia Intelligent Park enables visitors to drink in the beauty of Prunus blireana ‘Meiren’ and the magnificent view of the Jialing River along the route; the trains of Loop Line run across Jiulongpo Caiyun Lake National Wetland Park planted with a wide variety of plum blossoms...

You may find that the 'trains bound for spring' have increased and offered more beautiful views this year. We interviewed relevant departments and experts to learn about the reasons behind this.

Building small-scale landscapes

Small-scale landscapes are engaging

Bashan Park, next to the Banshan Station of Line 5 in Hualong Avenue, Zhongliangshan Sub-district, Jiulongpo District, features a 150-meter-long road lined with beautiful flowering cherry trees.

Avenue, interchanges, and pocket parks are important nodes in the urban landscape, and the city manager should make use of these public spaces to create aesthetically pleasing and engaging small gardens, said Liao Congquan, Director of the Urban Landscaping and Greening Management Division of the Chongqing Municipal Urban Management Bureau.

“In recent years, our urban landscaping and greening department has carried out a series of landscaping schemes, scientifically selecting, breeding, and applying flowering plants to create landscapes in different scales,” said Wang Sheng, Vice President of the Chongqing Landscape and Gardening Research Institute. “Points, lines, and planes make our city landscape vary, and we need to consider the relationship between the size of urban space and the number of plants. The size effect is an important factor for large-scale landscapes, while small-space landscaping focuses on details,” Wang added.

In the trains of Line 9 running from Yuzhong Hualongqiao to Fuhua Road, passengers will be greeted by an eye-catching red plum tree in the former site of Xinhua Daily headquarters (in Hongyan Park, Yuzhong District) along the way. The single red plum tree with bright-colored blossoms is invitingly beautiful, attracting the attention of passengers to the landmark of Chongqing, said Yuzhong Urban Management Bureau. If the red plum trees are planted on a large scale, they will hide the beautiful city landscape from our view.

Connecting small-scale landscapes

Small-scale landscapes are connected to form large-scale landscapes

Large-scale landscapes are a common sight in Chongqing, adding layers of color and beauty to the city.

The Jialing River riverside road (near the track for Line 2 trains running from Huanghuayuan to Daxigou), planted with small flowering trees, the Beauty Plum, and evergreen plants, looks like a colorful ribbon and complements the speeding trains and river boats.

The linear space such as urban expressways and medians requires a certain number of large-scale landscapes to present a beautiful view, said Liao Congquan.

Yunan Avenue in Banan District, called ‘Yulan Avenue’ by residents living nearby, is almost coinciding with the section between Bagongli and Yuhulu of Line 3. Miss Li, a resident living in Chongqing Evergrande City, told us that whenever she takes Line 3, she is attracted by the gorgeous Yulan magnolia stretching for over ten kilometers outside the window.

The individual landscapes can be connected to construct a large-scale landscape. “We are improving the urban and rural park system. Urban parks are connected through greenways so that parks and other public spaces can constitute a well-developed urban activity system,” said Wang Haomin, Director of the Park Management Division of the Chongqing Municipal Urban Management Bureau.

Creating dramatic views

Various large-scale landscapes add layers of beauty to the city

Recently, the Chongqing Municipal Urban Management Bureau released the 2024 Chongqing Flower Viewing Guide ‘Spring in Parks’, which recommends more than 220 flower viewing attractions for nearly 50 species of flowering plants available until May.

“Chongqing has a good foundation for urban greening. With the growth in people's living standards and the pursuit of a better life, our city landscape should be more colorful,” said Liao Congquan. He added that in recent years, Chongqing has appropriately expanded the planting area of bougainvilleas, crape myrtle, and tree roses to create a cityscape with rich landscapes and well-matched colors.

“City parks are an important part of the city landscape. In recent years, we have managed to highlight the flower-viewing function of parks.” Flowering plants are widely and appropriately planted in city parks with other trees, shrubs, and grasses to enrich and layer the city landscape, said Wang Haomin.

With the constant upgrading of the urban landscape and the continuous progress of rail transit construction, more ‘trains bound for spring’ will appear in our lives. (Translated by Yuki, Fathom Language Limited)