Rooftops in Beijing that will make you green

It's been seven years since the Beijing municipal government put "let rooftops go green in Beijing" on the list of deeds they should do for the public in 2005. Beijing's rooftops might not yet be rainforests, but more and more green rooftops have emerged since then.

Beijinger Zhang Guichun, 55, has really taken this motto on board. When he was younger, he studied at a Chinese medicine college and took a course on Chinese herbal medicine planting. This inspired him to plant vegetables at home just before the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. This was a time when Beijing was full of demolished buildings. Zhang's home, located on the first floor of a two-storey building in Xicaoshi Dongjie, Dongcheng district, was covered in dust as a result. When his neighbor announced he was going to move out, he decided to try and change this situation by planting fruit and vegetables on it.

After a rocky start, Zhang was able to grow bags of ping-pong-sized eggplants, tomatoes and watermelons. This led to him acquiring the nickname "ping-pong." Then he turned to farmers for help. Now he takes care of a 100-square-meter roof garden, which all his neighbors benefit from.

However, when talking about the green rooftop project in Beijing, Zhang was not very excited and expressed that there is still a long way to go and many barriers remain. Zhang has been a member of the Beijing Rooftops Landscaping Association for two years. "Viewing the statistics that we have, 69 million square meters of rooftop space in Beijing are not covered by green plants," Zhang explained. "Currently, we have only covered an area of 100,000 square meters."

According to Tan Changying, the chairman of the Beijing Rooftops Landscaping Association, plants on rooftops can do a lot of good. "First they can improve our landscape. Then they can help combat the dust in the atmosphere in order to clean the air. On top of that they can help restore water and cool down the city heat caused by pollution," Tan said.

So a rooftop garden can bring many benefits. Why then are there so few people and enterprises who want to participate in this project to make Beijing more green? Zhang offered some explanations.

"I think first of all, people don't have this awareness. Enterprises only care about money-making instead of devoting themselves to environment protection projects," Zhang explained. "For individuals they face a literal barrier, since to plant vegetables on a roof is a tough job and requires specific knowledge." Zhang went on to list examples. "You have to consider elements such as how much soil you will need for certain plant sizes, which is quite different from planting fruit and vegetables in fields."

In order to tackle this situation, Zhang decided to use the media to promote the project. "Many people don't even know there is an association related to green rooftops in Beijing, which they can turn to. I think through the media, more people know the association and many enterprises will shift their concentration from money-making towards doing something worthwhile for society," Zhang said with confidence.

Maybe the government desire to make more people turn their rooftops green will transpire.