From Sewage Station to Urban Park: A Beautiful and Livable Environment Thanks to Sustainable Development

Located in the mountains of southern Anhui, a city park with beautiful scenery and pleasant views was once a disgusting urban sewage station many years ago. Such a transformation is quite surprising and unexpected. Do you know which city's park this is? Let's take a look!

This is a corner of Ningyang Park in Ningguo City, a county-level city in the mountains of southern Anhui. Most people seeing this scenery would assume it is a great city for leisure and tourism, but many years ago this park was the city's largest pollution discharge point, with extremely poor water quality. I was very surprised to learn that such a beautiful park was once a large urban sewage station!

According to local authoritative information, as early as 2001, the local government began to renovate this area. After all, as part of the main urban area, it could not be allowed to continue polluting and affecting residents' lives. After several years of treatment, the foul-smelling environment was largely eliminated, bringing about this patch of green mountains and clear waters—a truly hard-won achievement.

Although Ningyang Park has a good location, it is situated on relatively high terrain and is far from the source of flowing water, making the treatment of this sewage pond extremely difficult. However, everything depends on human effort. The local government stopped discharging sewage, found ways to pump out the existing sewage, and refilled it with clean river water. Because a healthy path of development is sustainable, adhering to this philosophy finally brought the sewage station under control.

From a stinking, dirty urban sewage station to a beautiful, clean city park—what kind of force brought about this earth-shaking change? It's simple! That is the strategy of sustainable development. Only a good development environment and a livable urban environment can achieve true sustainable development. This development philosophy of Ningguo City has completely transformed the appearance of this large sewage station.

In ancient times, Ningguo City was called Ningcheng, Huai'an, Ningyang, and so on, hence the park was named Ningyang Park. Originally, this place was not called Ningyang Park but consisted of wild hills and a few farm fields belonging to a few households. Compared to the then urban area of Ningguo, it was quite remote, so it was used as a city sewage station.

The overall structure of current Ningyang Park is based on hills and a lake, with mature park layouts featuring lakeside walking paths and winding mountain trails, popular among the general public. Every evening, the park is crowded with people. To avoid unnecessary filming trouble caused by the crowds, I came to Ningyang Park around three in the afternoon. The overall environment is very nice, and it's hard to imagine that this was a city sewage station many years ago.

The slope of the mountain trail is not very steep, allowing most people to easily walk the entire park path. The gentlest slope from the foot to the top does not exceed 15 degrees. Based on mathematics, the relationship between height and slope is quite gentle. At the top, grassy areas dominate, and the clean, tidy walking paths make it hard to believe that this is Ningguo City, located in the mountainous region of southeastern Anhui.

Looking at the world's top urban environments, the most recognized livable places are maritime garden cities like Singapore and China's Xiamen. But to find such a city park and living environment in this little-known mountainous city in southern Anhui is truly surprising. Even more surprising is that many years ago this was a disgusting sewage pond. If I hadn't learned these facts, I would have thought this place had always been blessed with green mountains and clear waters.

Residents living in the southern part of Ningguo City are quite fortunate. In the evening, after a good dinner, they can bring their families for a stroll in the park, breathe fresh air, and enjoy the beautiful summer scenery—how delightful! The philosophy of sustainable development has shaped this urban environment, fully benefiting the people. Do you like this kind of small-city atmosphere?

To enhance the educational,趣味, and recreational value of Ningyang Park, the park displays Ningguo's local history and culture, along with real-life figures and stories. No matter which part of the park you are in, you can find historical and cultural elements that make this seemingly culture-free place rich in heritage. From a despised urban sewage station to a popular city park, Ningyang Park offers not only beautiful natural scenery but also a strong sense of historical charm.