On July 27, Hebei Daily published an article, “the city’s backyard garden has become a new engine for development - a visit to Kaiping District to build Tangshan Huahai and enlarge the effect of post Expo. ZEHO ECO as the designer, constructor and operationer of Tangshan Huahai, was interviewed by reporters.  They introduced in detail that through industrial operation and digital technology, ZEHO ECO upgraded Tangshan Huahai from “urban backyard garden” to “new engine for development”, realizing the transformation from ecological value to economic value and social value.

July 27 Hebei Daily

The city’s backyard garden has become a new engine for development - a visit to Kaiping District to build Tangshan Huahai and enlarge the effect of post Expo

In Tangshan Huahai North District, the waterside pavilion has infinite charm under the cover of flowers and green trees

In Tangshan Huahai South District, sunflowers grow brightly, beautiful and spectacular, attracting tourists to take photos as souvenirs

The Flowery Valley Camp makes the ecological green park a leisure space

Enjoy the flowers and enjoy the beauty; Garden tour, water viewing pavilion; Camping and enjoying leisure time... From July 2, Tangshan Huahai, in Kaiping District, has been opened to the public free. Citizens and tourists have taken advantage of their leisure time to visit the park and feel the beauty of the Tangshan Huahai.

Last year, as the site of the fifth provincial Garden Expo, Tangshan Huahai won public attention and received nearly 500,000 tourists. How to enlarge the post Expo effect has become an important topic.

Using the results of the Garden Expo, Kaiping District adheres to the fine management, precise service and boutique development, strives to build the brand image of “Tangshan Huahai, charm transformation”, focuses on the construction of the urban backyard garden, full uses the exhibition hall resources and ecological space, strives to improve the landscape quality, vigorously speeds up the industrial introduction, beautifies the urban life with the garden beauty, prospers the urban economy with the cultural and tourism industry, and strives to build the Kaiping transformation and development demonstration area The new engine of an ecologically livable and happy city.

Tangshan Huahai, charm transformation

Industry introduction, the exhibition hall turns into a cultural experience hall

Beside the sparkling lake, there is a faint fragrance of flowers and plants. In recent days, many citizens choose to use their leisure time to experience the ancient culture in the ancient courtyard in North District of Tangshan Huahai.

Citizens experience ancient culture

“We rely on five groups of ancient architectural courtyards, including Royal Courtyard, Tangfeng Courtyard, Suzhou Courtyard, Mountain Courtyard and Lingnan Courtyard, as well as Chengde Garden and Xingtai Garden, to create a cultural experience group characterized by traditional ancient customs.” As the overall operator of Tangshan Huahai, Peng Zhengrong, general manager of Tangshan Huahai project of Beijing ZEHO Waterfront Ecological Environment Treatment Co., Ltd., said that relying on existing resources such as exhibition gardens and building venues, without changing its overall structural layout, we should carry out “soft upgrading”, introduce matching cultural formats, and create an experience place for traditional culture and lifestyle. At present, the region has settled in master calligraphy and painting studios, intangible cultural heritage bronze carving cultural experience, ancient tea houses and other formats, and will gradually introduce traditional handicrafts, ancient art, quality catering and other formats in the future.

Ancient courtyard

Chengde Garden

Xingtai Garden

There are 3 exhibition halls, 13 urban exhibition gardens, and 5 ancient architectural courtyards... In the North District of Tangshan Huahai, the landscape pattern of “one deck, three pavilions, five courtyards, nine bridges, and eighteen gardens” built for the Garden Expo has become today’s rich exhibition hall resources.

From July 19 to 20, the first labor skills competition for primary and secondary school students in Tangshan was held in Huahai, Tangshan. 262 contestants from 23 teams from counties (cities, districts) and schools directly under the city of Tangshan competed in labor skills. The garden art museum in the North District of Tangshan Huahai has become the primary venue of the competition.

The opening ceremony of the first primary and secondary school students’ labor skills competition in Tangshan.

Garden Art Museum

Making use of the space advantages and architectural features of the principal venue to build a complex is another idea of the operation of Tangshan Huahai after the provincial Garden Expo.

According to Peng Zhengrong, the first floor of the venue will hold or undertake various large-scale activities from time to time, forming an important window to show the image of Tangshan and Kaiping. Soon, it is also planned to hold theme activities, such as animation carnivals and science and technology competitions. The second floor is dominated by education and entertainment, and the third floor is dominated by culture and art exhibitions. Diversified short-term art exhibitions will be introduced to create a new cultural highland in Tangshan.

“Inherit the red spark, pursue the dream of colorful future,” in Tangshan Garden, it illustrates the 100 year development history of Tangshan. “To visit the Huahai, you can not only feel the ecological beauty of birds and flowers but also learn red knowledge in the exhibition garden. It is an on-site classroom for our party members to learn party history.” On July 23, when visiting Tangshan Garden, citizen Yin Yue couldn’t help sighing.

Tangshan Garden

Relying on the original exhibition foundation, Tangshan Garden is being built into a red culture education base, which will carry out red culture exhibition, red culture education and other activities.

Functional upgrading, the ecological green park becomes a leisure space

As dusk falls, they scattered tents in the camping area in the South District of Tangshan Huahai. Many citizens gathered here with their relatives and friends, sat around on the green carpet, and tasted the charm of summer nights accompanied by stars and concerts.

The camping area in the South District of Tangshan Huahai

Four years ago, Tangshan Huahai, between the main urban area of Tangshan and Kaiping District, was also covered with coal mining subsidence areas, steel industry remains and “scattered pollution” small enterprises. Dust flying, garbage everywhere, sewage cross-flow, is a “urban scar” between the main urban area of Tangshan and Kaiping District. After significant efforts in ecological governance and restoration and urban renewal, the green transformation has been realized here, and it has become the back garden of the city.

However, for Tangshan Huahai, ecological improvement is only the first step. How to well use ecology to bring excellent projects, gather high popularity, promote fresh development, and let the ecological effect derive more economic and social benefits is the real embodiment of the “backyard Expo” effect.

“Nowadays, the fast pace of work and life makes’ slow life ‘the goal of the public, and camping has become one of the hottest leisure ways at present.” Peng Zhengrong said that on the premise of not destroying the ecological foundation, relying on the advantages of streams and vegetation of Huahai, the Flowery Valley Camp is built to make the ecological green space become a leisure camp, which is an exploration of the function improvement and expansion of Tangshan Huahai after the provincial Garden Expo. At present, many theme activities have been held here, such as the music midsummer night camping season and the cute pet parent-child tent festival.

Flowery Valley Camp

With lush flowers and trees, the good ecology of Tangshan Huahai not only made camping popular but also provides a broad space for children to explore nature and carry out research and study tours.

From July 16 to 17, “DS natural exploration competition” Tangshan station was held in Huahai, with over 700 groups of families taking part. In the competition, with the help of parents, children climb obstacles and step through the mud to gain the fun of field competition under the baptism of nature.

“This track design integrates the existing natural landscape of Tangshan Huahai, making the competition more challenging. Through the competition, children can become stronger, brave and confident.” According to the relevant person in charge of the organizing committee of the event, “DS nature exploration competition,” is a classic event focusing on the outdoor survival skills of teenagers, which is held as a national tour every year.

By exploring nature, Tangshan Huahai has become a training base for children and an outdoor classroom for understanding nature.

DS natural exploration competition

Tangshan Huahai will also rely on the northern wetland area and adhere to the natural concept of “taking the forest as the classroom and the wetland as the textbook” to build a natural education base for children aged 3 to 12. Soon, the region will hold natural research activities focusing on 1-day camp. Around weekends, small holidays, winter and summer holidays, it will carry out research activities on topics such as colorful nature, tracing nature, exploring nature, and become a natural research base integrating “natural research, entertainment experience, and parent-child activities” in Tangshan city.

Intelligent empowerment, "digital housekeeper" accurately conserves the ecosystem

“How much labour and material resources are needed to realize daily maintenance of such a large area of green space and countless flowers, plants and trees?” The reporter found the answer on the mobile phone of the on-site maintenance personnel.

The total area of green space, the number of on-site personnel, the number of missing seedlings, seedling filling records, maintenance logs... Open the “ecological housekeeper” App, and the maintenance information of Tangshan Huahai green space is clear at a glance.

"Ecological housekeeper" smart management App

“This is our innovative introduction of the ‘ecological housekeeper’ intelligent maintenance management system, which can realize management and maintenance applications such as seedling management, comprehensive inspection and emergency repair of ancillary facilities.” Peng Zhengrong introduced that the total service area of greening maintenance services is about 2million square meters. Compared with general manual maintenance, the “ecological housekeeper” this year is expected to save 15% of the maintenance cost. In the future, with the improvement and upgrading of the irrigation system in the region, the maintenance cost can be gradually reduced by 20% to 30%.

Digital maintenance is not only low cost but also accurate and efficient.

In the process of daily maintenance, the “ecological housekeeper” intelligent maintenance management system can realize fine real-time monitoring of all aspects of greening and maintenance in Tangshan Huahai park from the perspective of managers through “Internet +” services, and establish rapid emergency command and scheduling by changing the traditional scheduling mode, to realize real-time scheduling and feedback of vehicles, personnel and facilities, and fully and reasonably allocate resources, Effectively help the development of fine maintenance work.

“Ecological housekeeper” intelligent maintenance management system

This system can realize the innovation of assessment management mechanism through digital analysis. Through data model establishment and big data analysis, various management reports can be provided for managers to improve their work efficiency. The staff can collect, improve and enter the maintenance infrastructure information of the park, and carry out daily maintenance and update according to the management status, and assist the greening management and maintenance team in statistical analysis and work planning.

“At the end of last year, the Kaiping District government signed a cooperation framework agreement with us to create a carbon neutralization technology demonstration area that can be promoted and replicated and a demonstration project to transform ecological value into economic value.” Peng Zhengrong introduced that according to the plan, Tangshan Huahai will launch the ecological housekeeper ecological assessment system and carbon neutralization monitoring system at the end of this year, using ecological models to qualitatively and quantitatively assess the ecological functions and low-carbon benefits of green space assets in the park, give full play to the ecological and carbon neutralization values of the park, and help Tangshan achieve the double carbon goal.