BEIJING, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- On summer weekends, Beijing's Liangma River buzzes with life. Stand-up paddle boards glide past gleaming skyscrapers, their bright-colored hulls decorating the water in a scene local residents are comparing to the Seine.

People paddle, kayak and relax along the Liangma River International Waterfront, a popular summer leisure destination in Beijing, on June 1, 2026. (File photo: IC)

Along shaded riverbanks, families and friends gather to escape sweltering temperatures, watching a flotilla of paddle boards so dense it sometimes rivals busy traffic on Beijing's main streets.

Such riverside revelry would have been unthinkable along the Liangma about a decade ago. For years, this river was written off as a blight on Beijing's urban landscape -- a murky, neglected waterway that no one would have picked even as a last resort for a weekend outing.

Its revival is part of a broader story unfolding across China, where a sustained national push for ecological restoration has delivered cleaner water, greener scenery and richer wildlife habitats within reach of ordinary citizens. Also, as the environment has healed, so people's leisure habits have been reshaped.

NATURE NEAR NEIGHBORHOODS

The Liangma River has been revitalized through years of systematic upgrading.

Since 2019, municipal authorities have pursued an integrated approach combining water purification, ecological restoration and urban regeneration, which involves dredging the riverbed, refurbishing bridges, optimizing pedestrian networks and upgrading the landscape.

The results are visible. Riverside greenways now stretch along both banks, and are open day and night. Two dozen renovated bridges span the water, while sightseeing cruises glide beneath them, carrying passengers through the scenic heart of the area.

The transformation of the Liangma River mirrors a broader shift in how urban residents spend their leisure time, said Liu Yiming, an outdoor enthusiast in Beijing. "Leisure travel used to revolve around established scenic spots," he said. "Now people want something more distinctive, more immersive."

That craving is epitomized by the popularity of camping along rivers or lakes in urban parks. By the end of 2024, China had built 2,055 dedicated camping sites, turning concrete jungles into patchwork quilts of green. The core market size of China's camping industry is projected to reach 291.95 billion yuan (about 43 billion U.S. dollars) by 2026, according to industry estimates. The numbers speak for themselves: what was once a fringe pursuit has become a national pastime.

"Over the past two years, more and more people around me have started to turn to campsites for a little escape from urban life," said Pan Rongfeng, a middle school teacher in his 30s. "As long as the weather is agreeable, I love to gather outdoors to unwind."

The enthusiasm for urban getaways has been fueled by a decade of steady environmental gains. China's surface water quality has continuously improved, giving rise to increasingly rich biodiversity, with fish, bird and insect species multiplying in waterways and wetlands that not long ago could not sustain nearly so much life. The result has been a quiet boom in activities that were not possible before: such as birdwatching in city parks.

In Shanghai, people do not need to drive to the countryside to spot a kingfisher. Last August, municipal authorities declared the metropolis a "city of a thousand parks," with 1,013 green spaces now peppering the urban sprawl, including 522 formal urban parks and 119 leisure forest parks. Many of them have become avian addresses.

Century Park, the largest downtown green lung in Shanghai, recorded 215 bird species in the past year alone, drawing droves of binocular-toting enthusiasts. According to the Shanghai Wild Bird Society, the city recorded 543 wild bird species in 2025, up from 475 in 2016.

"I never realized there were so many birds around me," said Wu Yue, a Gen-Z birdwatcher. "It's as if the world suddenly lit up." For many young people like Wu, birdwatching has opened a window to a natural world hidden in plain sight.

The bird numbers tell only part of the story. By the end of 2023, the country also had some 340,000 birdwatching enthusiasts, an increase of about 200,000 in just five years.

RAISED GREEN AWARENESS

China's ecological gains are not going unnoticed. Official data showed that Chinese people's satisfaction with the ecological environment had reached 91.37 percent in 2025, the fifth consecutive year of a reading above 90 percent.

As restored landscapes draw more people outdoors, something else is happening: the boom in outdoor activity is, in turn, deepening the environmental consciousness of those who participate. A virtuous cycle is taking hold.

In southwestern China's Sichuan Province, a hiking group called Snail Outdoor organizes weekend trips up Zhaogong Mountain not just to climb but also to collect litter left behind by hikers. What began as a small volunteer effort has since grown to include over 600 participants, ranging from retirees to primary school children.

"Picking up trash is not the goal," said Wang Liang, a group organizer. "What we want to spread is the idea of caring for the environment, and a nudge toward greener habits."

The Snail Outdoor hikers are not alone. Across the country, volunteers clean up shorelines along the beaches, students plant trees on barren hillsides, and communities sort waste at source. This is a collective effort that reflects a quiet but profound shift in public attitudes in China.

A survey by the China Youth Daily Social Survey Center, which polled 1,000 young people, discovered that 85.1 percent of respondents felt that green and low-carbon concepts had become more woven into everyday routines.

The top three habits they cited, namely saving water, saving electricity and choosing green transport, are small acts, but together they are steadily reshaping how ordinary Chinese interact with their surroundings.

Chen Zicheng, a young office worker in Nanjing, capital city of east China's Jiangsu Province, considers his daily habits to be reasonably green.

"I always take public transport, bring my own shopping bags and try to avoid disposable plastic bags," he said. "It is not just about saving money."

He hoped that communities will organize more science outreach activities focused on environmental protection, so that young people and children can turn green concepts into real action.

The government, too, is pushing this shift forward. In June, China's State Council issued a national plan for building a Beautiful China, setting binding environmental targets through 2030.

The plan outlines seven key tasks including keeping skies blue, waters clear and lands clean, promoting ecosystem improvement, actively addressing climate change, and accelerating the adoption of green production and lifestyles.

"Building a Beautiful China is a central pursuit of Chinese modernization and an essential choice for meeting people's aspirations for a better life," said Ma Xiangming, a director of the Urban Planning Society of China. "The priority lies in ecological beauty. A sound ecological environment is the most equitable and inclusive public welfare."