Eight municipal and 12 community parks will be built this year along with 30 km (19 miles) of hiking trails, 22 km (14 miles) of boulevard, and 25 floral installations, according to a Feb 4 Zhuhai government press conference.

By the end of 2020, Zhuhai had 733 parks of various types. Already, residents can reach a green space within a radius of 300 m (328 yd) of their homes, community park within 500 m (547 yd), comprehensive park within 5 km (3 miles), and an outskirt forest park within 10 km (6 miles).

Work on the fourth phase of Xiangshan Lake Park will progress this year. Partial landscapes open in September covering 98,000 sqm (24 acres) at the foot of Fenghuang Mt east of Jianmin Road in New Xiangzhou. The section will encompass a parent-child ecological education base, mountain hiking trail, lake, and landscaped leisure area.

Xiangshan Lake Park (Xiāng Shān Hú Gōng Yuán) entrance [Photo by Zhong Fan / Zhuhai Daily]

The terrain is now being prepared, and preliminary construction of the hiking trail begins in May. Design of the fourth phase will be synchronized with that of nearby Xiangshan Lake Hotel, according to Lu Yao, deputy head of Xiangzhou District.

Meanwhile, the 13,000-sqm (3.2-acre) second phase of Sea & Sky (Haitian) Park will be ready by June. It will feature a Chinese Lingnan (Cantonese) architectural style building with archaistic corridors, walls, rockeries, ponds, and pavilions. Catering and shopping will also be available in a business area of 12,000 sqm (3 acres).

Both the main line of the 9.9-km (6-mile) Fenghuang Mt and 13.5-km (8-mile) Banzhang Mt hiking trails will be fully completed by the end of this year. They will support a necklace of major municipal parks including Xiangshan Lake, Haitian, Bailiandong (White Lotus Cave), and Jingshan.

Notably, Xiangzhou Community Park garnered an Exemplary Award for Chinese Living Environment in 2015 and Civic Park Construction Project of Zhuhai was selected from 1,000 entries nationwide as a 2020 Demonstrative Livelihood Project at the 8th China Livelihood Development Forum.

All city parks remain open during the Feb 11-17 Spring Festival holiday except any subject to red alert for forest fires. Visitors should maintain social distancing and comply with epidemic prevention and control measures.