Committed to building itself into a highly desirable living area, Chaoyang district in Beijing has devoted a lot of effort to turn dull outlooks into green spaces and to fulfill the shopping needs of the trendy residents in the area.

Shaziying village in the Sunhe area of Chaoyang is an example showcasing the district's green achievements. There were landfills and sand-making factories in the village, and its pollutants posed a threat to the ecology of the nearby Wenyu River.

Thanks to district's efforts in improving the ecology of the Sunhe area, the river became cleaner and several parks were set up in 2020. The Wenyu River Park has become one of the landmarks of the capital city, a local official said.

"The ecology has improved. I saw animals come back to the area. In spring and late autumn, flocks of migratory birds settle here, such as swans, mandarin ducks and egrets," said Zhang Xueshi, a villager who lives in Sunhe. "Even a kind of turtle that we have not seen for decades has come back."

Data showed that over the past five years, Chaoyang built and upgraded 102 parks, and the forest coverage of the whole district reached 48 percent. A total of 32.11 million square meters of illegal structures were removed, 154 grocery markets have been either dissolved or upgraded, and 577 convenience outlets have been added.

"Dirty Street" in Sanlitun, Beijing's fashion hub, was named that way because of its messy environment and illegal construction works. Now, it is a quiet pedestrian street dotted with bookstores.

A fashion show was staged on Oct 6 on the banks of the Liangma River in the district. It displayed design works of the Top 10 designers in China and outstanding students of the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology.

"This show was part of Chaoyang's efforts to turn it into a fashionable district and to promote the nighttime economy," an official said.

Chaoyang is home to 102 cultural industrial parks, of which 32 are recognized as municipal-level venues. "Many of them used to be industrial ruins," a local official said. "To date, Beijing Music Industrial Park, Langyuan Vintage and Maolong Cultural and Creative Industrial Park are gaining popularity among the public."

A recent plan released by the local government reported that Beijing will strive to have two to three world-class business districts each worth 100 billion yuan ($14.06 billion) within five years. The CBD area in downtown Beijing is the most promising one to be at a global standard, an official said.

The area features a number of fine shopping venues. One of them is SKP Beijing shopping mall, which has a reputation for high-end fashion and luxury. It reported 17.7 billion yuan in sales in 2020, outpacing Harrods in London.

A ranking released by Chinese business media Linkshop said SKP Beijing was the biggest and most productive retailer in China in 2021 with 24 billion yuan in revenue.

yinruowei@chinadaily.com.cn