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WORLD> Enviroment
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Homeliness, breathtaking environment boost allure
By Wang Wei & Hu Meidong (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-01-09 07:38
China's rapid economic growth over the past three decades has resulted in some cities developing a step ahead of others. Xiamen, on the coast in east China's Fujian province, is well-known for its livable natural environment and comfortable cultural surroundings, for it is like "a city that feels like home". Xiamen was awarded some prizes including the China Habitat Environment Prize, United Nation Habitat Prize and China's Civilization City, all in the last two years. It is also a friendly place. One illustration is the story of a CEO who was in charge of a world beauty pageant that would be held in China. She arrived in the city to view sites to see if a beauty contest was possible. She forgot 100,000 yuan worth of articles in a taxi, but the driver finally found her through many inquiries and returned all her lost articles. The CEO immediately decided to host the beauty pageant in Xiamen as a result. A few years ago a young man from Guizhou province who had a congenital heart condition came to Xiamen. He didn't want to spent his family's money and drag them down with him, so he decided to die alone in Xiamen. People in the city heard his story and started donating money to help him. He was also exempted all the fees from a local hospital. In the end, he received a heart transplant, and now has "Xiamen heart". A French professor teaching history who once stayed in Xiamen witnessed the local people's virtues. He wrote that the city "doesn't have horn blaring from vehicles; streets, squares, cafes, restaurants and shops are all very tidy; people wait for the green lights when crossing the street; vendors and local residents are very polite". In the process of reform and opening up, Xiamen learned lessons from Western countries on its way to urbanization and industrialization. It put great effort in environmental protection and sustainable development. As a coastal city, it lacks many natural resources and has limited land, which encouraged the city to develop in an environmentally friendly way. It paid considerable attention on the construction of a recycling economy and exploring international markets. Oil and chemical companies like Xianglu Petrochemical Enterprise (Xiamen) Co Ltd have become models in terms of developing circular economy. Xiamen is also engaged in the optoelectronics industry. According to statistics, Xiamen's energy consumption per unit of GDP has fallen to the level of developed countries. It plans to reduce that by 20 percent by 2010, expecting to rank at the top in China. The local government has put a lot of efforts protecting the environment. The city's forest coverage rate is 42.6 percent. Area of gardens and green areas cover 2,474.7 hectares. Per capita public green areas account for 9.9 sq m. The natural reserve coverage reaches 7 percent. Xiamen, therefore, acquired its name of "a garden on the sea". When Xiamen was building the Island Ring Road it preserved banyan trees by routing the road around them. In the city's downtown, Yuandang Lake, a habitat for egrets, is regarded as a symbol of the eco-environmentally friendly city.
(China Daily 01/09/2009 page7) |
