People in Huiping town, Qidong now have access to walking, dancing and sightseeing in beautiful parks. [Photo/ntfabu.com]

In a bid to boost Yangtze River protection, Huiping town in Qidong, a county-level city of Nantong, has carried out remediation of abandoned fishing ponds and graves on the inner side of the embankment of the Yangtze River since the beginning of 2020 to make room for the construction of riverside leisure parks.

"It used to be difficult to find a place for walking around," said Fan Hongying, a villager of Shilian village who takes a walk in the Huihe Park every day. "Now, the landscapes are so close. I walk here twice every day, which makes me feel that the quality of life is greatly improved."

In the beginning of 2018, Huihe Park's current site was messy and dirty, and consisted of salvage stations, gravel yards and other tiny workshops. In June 2018, the Huiping town government took major steps to renovate the mess.

Now, the villagers take their kids to play in the park in the daytime; at night, people gather there for square dancing.

In addition, Huiping town took advantage of the street corners and village collective construction land to build more than 20 pocket parks, renew the old appearance of the chaotic corners and provide space for villagers' leisure.