Central Green Forest Park
[Photo via the Beijing Investment Group]

This year marks the fifth anniversary of the Central Green Forest Park's opening. As an ecological landmark in the Beijing Municipal Administrative Center, the park has seen over 15 million visits in the past five years, becoming a beloved "urban living room" in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

Wild animals inhabiting the Central Green Forest Park
[Photo via the Beijing Investment Group]

The park has restored 78 hectares of land, with its green coverage rate exceeding 85 percent. The 375,000-square-meter wetland zone (opened at the end of 2024) and the core conservation zone are the "two ecological poles" of the park, offering habitats for more than 100 species of wildlife. The air's negative oxygen ion concentration reaches 3,700 per cubic centimeter, far above the standard for clean air. By adopting geothermal heat pumps and photovoltaic power-generating technologies, the park has become Beijing's first zero-carbon urban park, cutting carbon emissions by 11,556 tons annually while its trees sequester over 5,000 tons of carbon each year.

Over the past five years, the park has evolved from a successful case of ecological restoration into a model for integrating ecological functions and lifestyles. The 2.5-kilometer Ming and Qing River Landscape Belt revives the charm of the ancient canals, while cultural events such as calligraphy and painting exhibitions and guqin performances in the Cherry Blossom Courtyard blend the heritage of the Grand Canal with contemporary art.

More than 200 sessions of cultural events have been held at this park, including the Beijing Science Week, the Beijing Green Development Forum, intangible cultural heritage fairs, and some public art exhibitions.

Offering leisure experiences all year round, the park features family-friendly attractions such as Apailang Creativity Land and Feijijia Adventure Camp. Large-scale events like the Beijing MC Marathon and the Grand Canal Music Festival have been drawing huge crowds too, with the latter alone attracting nearly 200,000 music lovers.