Tianjin has connected eight otherwise separate century-old rivers and introduced fresh water from the Haihe River, making it an attractive park of greenery.

The city has spent three years doing this with a total involvement of more than 100,000 voluntary labor. This has brought marked ecological, economic and social effects to the city.

The right rivers that ran through the city proper were the trenches dug during wars more than 100 years ago. As they were not connected with any fresh water source, they became stinking and were the hotbeds of mosquitoes and flies.

In early 2000, Tianjin city government decided to improve the environment for the 500,000 residents and 300 big institutions, shops, restaurants and schools in the area of the eight rivers. It has since invested one billion yuan and 150,000 labor day, cleaning 1.85 million cubic meters of sludge and removing 800,000 cubic meters of earth and stone work.

The eight rivers with a capacity of 2.2 million cubic meters of fresh water irrigate the trees and grass over an area of 2 million square meters. It greatly alleviates the "hot island effect" of the city by adding 2120 tons of oxygen to the city and absorbing 2128 tons of carbon dioxide. It may also help stop 300 tons of dust a year.

The efforts have also helped improve the infrastructure of the city and perfect its urban function. It may help the city's economic growth by two to three percentage points a year.

(www.cenews.com.cn September 16, 2002)