(CFP Photo)
Huanghai National Forest Park in Dongtai City, Jiangsu Province is always a great destination to enjoy the beautiful scenery including the lush trees, fresh air and clean water.
"The concentration of negative oxygen ions is ten times the standard of urban air," said tourist guide Wang Mingyue.
A landmark at the park is the 13.14km long road flanked by metasequoia trees and the exact length sounds like "a whole life" in Chinese, a witty way to honor those people who have committed to the forest park's development.
The forest was started in October 1965 when 18 young people began building the tree farm on the reclaimed mudflats. Living in the straw cottages was only one of the challenges they had to overcome. After 57 years' hard efforts, the once barren place with typical saline soils was changed into a forest spanning over 68,000 mu (4,533 hectares).
According to Zhu Longshan, who was the first university graduate in the tree farm in 1968 and then worked as the farm's head, a type of black locust tree was planted at first because of its greater salt tolerance and survival rate, although the trees grew very slow. Efforts were then made to improve the tree species and experiment with bamboo too.
In 2014, the tree farm was officially named as Huanghai Forest Park, which then became a national forest park in 2018.
The place's forest coverage rate now exceeds 90%, and there are 652 kinds of plants, 342 kinds of wild birds, more than 30 kinds of animals. The fresh air, with 3,800 negative oxygen ions per cubic centimeter on average, is a great drawing card to visitors.
From a tree farm to a forest park open to the public, the change also reflects a rising awareness of green development. Shen Caiqin, an engineer of the park, said about 100,000 trees are newly planted each year to increase the green space and sights.
Meanwhile, other efforts have increased the average revenue of tree farm year by year, thanks to the science-based management and appropriate logging. In addition to crops and animal husbandry, branches in tree trimming and pruning are also used at furniture and fiberboard factories. This development model has effectively protected the forest and also improved workers' income.
The park has also introduced a series of programs, including a family-friendly interactive activity at the science museum located here, a fun train ride through the forest, and a cultural zone hosting the farm's heritage. This has made the park a good choice of vacation and recreation.
