During the southern Song Dynasty, the emperor Zhaogou was mesmerized by the Xixi scenery. More than a thousand years later, after enduring pollution and neglect, Xi'xi is showing its new, restored face to visitors.

Recently, experts gathered in Hangzhou to discuss the second stage of the construction of what they call 'two causeways and one park'.

The two Causeways are tentatively named Fu Di causeway and Lu Di Causeway, and the park will be called “Baojiadai Tropical Wetland Botanical Garden.”

New Causeway

The Huajiang Road, which connects the southern and northern entrances to the Xixi wetland,. used to be lined with fir trees and metasequoias, which are a type or Red Wood tree, and some Japanese persimmon. Today it is full of poholes and most vegetation around it has died.

Under the new renovation plans, it will be transformed into the Fu Causeway with improvements in the road surface and the plants and trees along the side of the road.

There will be six bridges on the Fu Di Causeway: Yuanfu, Xiangfu, Guangfu, Quanfu, Yongfu and Qingfu. Each bridge is named with Fu, a character means happiness in Chinese.

Wetland Plant Community Being Displayed

Lu Di Causeway,will show off the local wetland plant community.

It will have pedestrian and biking lanes on either side of several car lanes.Every 300 meters there will be a spot to rest. Walking on the Causeway, visitors will see many different plants, including willows, pterocarya stenoptera, shrub, gardenia, berry, hydrilla, hornwort, water shield, and lotus plants.

An Ecological System Being Established

Baojiadai Wetland Botanic Garden for subtropical plants is in the south to Lu Di Causeway. The area used to have many farmhouses and some abandoned fishing pools. But after its river ways have been cleaned up and the fishing pools dredged, and vegetation replanted, it is ready to resume its role as a functioning aquatic ecosystem.