Beijing News You Might Have Missed This Week, Jan 9

Beijing News You Might Have Missed This Week, Jan 8

Vincent R. Vinci & Irene Li | Jan 8, 2022 11:56 am | Add a comment | 328 reads

Beijing is a happening city! Don't miss a thing with our weekend roundup of the latest news.

Beijing to construct over 1000 km of "slow traffic urban waterfront" by 2035: The capital's Water Affairs Bureau has released plans for an "Urban Waterfront Slow Traffic System", according to Beijing Daily. The project, which will span 1109.6 km within 554.8 km of river within 11 Beijing districts, will work like a riverfront park of sorts and be open to foot and bicycle traffic. Think of it as the riverfront promenades and walking lanes you might find around Liangmaqiao, only this one is expected to be more green and eco-friendly.

New high-speed railway set to open by 2025: Construction of a high-speed railway that will connect Beijing to Taiyuan, the capital of China's northern Shanxi Province, will begin on Feb 1, according to the city's transit authority. Once the 342 km-long railway is completed in 2025, it will take one and a half hours for people to travel between the cities by rail half the time of the current three-hour journey.

China to set up first national botanical garden in Beijing: The country's first national-level botanical garden will be develped in the capital, following approval by the State Council on Jan 4, China Daily reports. The garden will be divided into two areas, both utilizing resources from the Chinese Academy of Science's Institute of Botany and the Beijing Botanical Garden. The garden will promote on- and off-site plant conservation and high-level research and sustainable utilization of plant groups, according to a reply from the State Council cited by the newspaper.

Beijing to add new expressway: The Jingxiong Expressway (Beijing section), which will span the Yongding River and extend southward through Fangshan District, is set to open by the end of this year. The expressway starts at the Fifth Ring Road in southwest Beijng, and will have a total length of 27 km.