In recent years, the city of Guangzhou has started the planning for a thousand kilometer's ecological belt at a high starting point and in high standard. By the end of June this year, 609 kilometers of ecological belt had been built in the city, which has achieved human-water harmony, and recently it has won two international awards - Honourable Mention in Built-Urban of World Landscape Architecture (WLA), and Special Mention in the Infrastructure category of Landezine International Landscape Award (LILA). Thereinto, the Yadong River ecological belt located in the Eco-Design Town in Conghua has became a typical demonstration area attracting numerous tourists to snap for Instagram in days, having effectively driven economic growth along the way.
 

On July 22, The Information Office of the People’s Government of Guangzhou Municipality hosted a press conference (the 105th press conference in 2021) in Eco-Design Town in Conghua District.At the press conference, Peng Xiaochun, the Director of Guangzhou Water Ecological Construction Center introduced that since this year, the Guangzhou Ecological Belt Master Plan and Implementation project had went through evaluation of international design awards, and respectively won the Honourable Mention in Built-Urban of WLA on May 18, and Special Mention in the Infrastructure category of LILA on June 23.

Rolling bamboo forests and flowers are surrounding, the river is clear and babbling, this is the first impression when stepping into the ecological belt of Yadong River. Surprisingly, the crowded riversides of Yadong River used to be avoided by villagers nearby due to issues of water contamination, ecological unbalance etc. “In the past, flood was very common, houses of villagers nearby got drowned quite easily in heavy rain seasons.” Dai Xinlong, Vice-Director of Water Resource and Hydropower Construction Management Center of Conghua District states. Other than  improving the environment in surrounding areas, the renovation of Yadong River ecological belt has even bearing the construction of flood control to reduce the recurrence of flooding as the top priority.

In the process of Phase 1 restoration of Yadong River, the operational team of Eco-Design Town has treated mountains, water, forests and plants along Yadong River as a community of shared life, provided unified protection, and applied measures of restoring mountain slopes, water and soil, ecological public welfare forests planting etc., curbed soil erosion of the riversides from the beginning, and maintained the biodiversity and stability of the river system. Now micro transformation of Phase 1 of Yadong River is completed, flood control and drainage have been resolved, the flood control standard reaches a 20-year return period, it effectively safeguards life and property of people along the riverway.

The ecological belt of Yadong River is proposed to be 11 km long, 1 km ecological belt of Phase 1 is completed, the construction of another 10 km for Phase 2 has begun. During the construction process of Yadong River ecological belt, it has pioneered the use of government-enterprise cooperation mode. Yadong River management project led by the government, has implemented river dredging, embankment construction and drop spillway was newly built, having thoroughly addressed the fundamental problems of flood discharge condition, dysfunction etc..

The operating enterprises of Eco-Design Town carried out micro-transformation for riverside views subject to the concept of “Ecological Development”, combining with the development layout of eco-design industry against both sides of the river, constructed “embedded” sightseeing spots, e.g. waterfront revetment, wetland bridge, cultural corridor etc.
 

After a half year of time, the river that used to be alluvial has been replaced by one with multiple green shores, sightseeing platforms, ecological wetland and waterfront footpath, Yadong River has become a greeting lobby of the town that has a flowing river with clear water, strong embankment, green water banks and beautiful scenery. The innovative mode of government-enterprise cooperation has made the ecological belt construction and enterprise development complement each other, creating a win-win situation.
 

In early this year, a rare plant named “Cladopus Nymanii” has reappeared in Yadong River basin after being vanished for over 60 years in Guangzhou, this is the best evidence of the constant quality improvement of local ecological environment, it also highlighted the achievement of micro-transformation in riversides of Yadong River.  
 

Cladopus Nymanii, commonly known as “flower on rocks”, a specimen of Cladopus, is a tiny moss-like plant just 2-3 millimeters high, it got its name as it grows on rocks beneath waterfall. Cladopus Nymanii is a water quality indicator, as it can only survive where water is in very high quality, other than pollution free, adequate water flow is also required, it can hardly be found in wild life.
 

In the construction process of Yadong River ecological belt, The Eco-Design Town has implemented water area-shoreline combined management, concentrated construction in contiguous areas, the ecological environment has been systematically improved, now the nest has been completed, golden phoenix is to be attracted to come.