Believe it or not China has a National Tree-Planting Day!
In 1979, the 5th National People’s Congress of People Republic of China made a resolution that March 12th would be taken as Chinese Tree-Planting Day, requiring the whole country to carry out tree-planting activities on this day to protect the environment and to counter the deforestation across the country. As March 12th is still winter in the northern part of China many regions have moved this day to later in the year, which is the case for Beijing.
Our client, CYDF, kindly invited us to participate in their tree-planting activity about 200km outside of Beijing last Saturday. It was a unique experience as we got to spend some ‘private’ time with our client and their families. You will see on the pictures that we did not have to do all the tree-planting by ourselves but had some professional help.
After two hours of tree-planting we had lunch and then drove to and climbed up Jiming Mountain (1140 above sea level) in Xiahuayuan, Hebei Province. Jiming Mountain is a national ethnic cultural site which features beautifully the coexistence of Buddhism, Daoism and Confucianism. Climbing up the mountain while listening to tasteful music we’d pass are various temples and shrines. And the view from the mountain top would have been spectacular had it not been cloudy that day. If you feel like take a look at the tree-planting.
In the picture gallery you will also find a few shots from my visit to Beijing’s 798 Art District. 798 Art District is located in the northeast part of Beijing. What used to be state-owned factories (including Factory 798) has gradually developed (since 2002) into a very cool, liberal art district including galleries, art centers, artists’ studios, design companies, restaurants, and bars. Getting there by bus was an adventure, but I am very glad I took it J
A quick remark as time has been flying and four weeks are coming to an end: This will be the last blog from this trip!