Living in Comfort and Joy in Fengdu County

LINING both sides of the streetsof downtown Fengdu are rowsof camphor, sweet osmanthusland ginkgo trees. The local gov-ernment has set its sights on buildingFengdu into one of the most livable cit-ies in western China by 2012 and one ofthe most livable cities in all of China by2017. The planned area of the county'snew urban center is 27.6 square kilome-ters, of which lO have been completed.

Downtown:Modern andEco-friendly

As the light fades, more and morelocals go out walking after dinner. TheRiverside Park near the Yangtze Riveris always teeming with people. Thepark, crossing the county from east towest, stretches some 3,140 meters, witha total area of 130,000 square meters,100,000 of which is planted. In fact,green area covers 2.02 million squaremeters of urban Fengdu, a staggering35.4 percent of its total area. The percapita public green space is 11.9 squaremeters.

The Riverside Park is composed offour parts-green retaining walls, along corridor with fitness equipment, apromenade with ornamental plants, anda square where locals can enjoy a walkor exercise. A 65-year-old retiree Ms Daimoved to the new county town in 2oo2."I have witnessed the changes here,"saidDai, who goes to the square everyday. "Inthe past it was impossible to find spacefor leisure activities. The new town isgreat. Life here is better and I feel hap-pier," enthused Dai.

Fengdu currently has more than 10squares, including two still under con-struetion. According to Gan Liming, vicedirector of the local Urban Council, thecounty government allocated RMB 500million for eco-friendly construction andinfrastructure improvements.

All the streets in the county seat areequipped with street lights, and thestreetward buildings are all decoratedwith colorful lamps. About 92 percentof the roads are paved with asphalt, pre-venting dust and reducing noise, andthe sidewalks along the county's mainroads are paved with striped bricks,which are more cost-effective than thetraditional marble.

The work also includes building 2,000low-rent apartments with a total areaof 100,000 square meters, resettlementapartments that cover 30,000 squaremeters in Shuitianping Industrial Park,and the first-phase construction of MinfuRetirement Home, covering 18,000square meters. All these projects arenow in full swing. In 2010, Fengdu alsolaunched a resettlement project that in-volved the replacement of some 100,000square meters of old and dangeroushouses. Batches of high-quality residen-tial buildings have gone up. "Good winesells well even deep in the backstreets;once nests have been built, phoenixeswill come," commented Gan Liming us-ing two old sayings to describe the cur-rent enthusiasm.

Bayu New Residences

Houchiba Village of Gaojia Town inFengdu County was chosen as a dem-onstration site for a project called BayuNew Residences. For a government in- vestment of nearly RMB 10 million in2010, 230 households enjoy renovatedpremises and 20 enjoy new ones.

Houchiba Village enjoys a wonderfulnatural environment, situated near hillsand water. China Today journalists visit-ed one of the houses in the village whichwas still under construction at the footof a hill and facing a pond teeming withfish. It bore the classic characteristics oflocal architecture - white walls, carvedwindows and cyan wainscots. When theproject was launched, the county govern-ment of Fengdu entrusted highly repu-table architects from Tongji and Chongq-ing universities to make overall plans forthe construction, and the final versionwas selected by villagers in a vote.

Most old houses in the village lookedabandoned. China Today reporters leav-ing the village came across an old manand his two grandchildren in an adobehouse, but in fact they didn't live there.The old man had moved into a newapartment in town and their old housewas used as a barn.

According to their project plan, about6oo new houses will be built, and 6opercent are complete. About 20 percentof planned renovations to 2,300 houseshave been completed. In addition, bath-rooms in 3,ooo rural households willbe built or renovated, with 5oo alreadyfinished. Most of the planned methanetanks for 3,ooo households have alreadybeen built.

Driving through Fengdu, China Todaynoticed that even rural roads and side-walks are very smooth and pleasant totravel on, thanks to the changes broughtabout by road upgrades. According toChen Tao, vice director of the county'sCommission of Housing and Urban-rural Development, about six kilometersof the planned 49 kilometers of roadsconnecting town governments have beenupgraded, and around 30 percent of thework on the remaining 43 kilometershas been finished. About 45 percent ofthe construction work to upgrade 113-kilometer roads connecting village com-mittees has been completed, as have 93kilometers of the 148-kilometer roadsconnecting villages. The convenience oftransport is set to increase even morewith the construction of four township-level passenger transport deports and 30village-level bus stations, allowing resi-dents to travel around their comfortablecounty with greater ease.