Displays to brighten up global sports gala

Beijing will build 10 different Winter Olympic-themed ornamental displays along its major roads and key sites to welcome the upcoming sports gala and add to the festive atmosphere, according to the Beijing Forestry and Parks Bureau.

Gao Dawei, deputy head and spokesman of the bureau, made the announcement at a news conference at the end of November.

A green drive is being carried out citywide and all the planned landscaping work is scheduled to be completed in the second half of next February, Gao said.

Data from the bureau show that by the end of 2021, Beijing will have spent four years adding 56,667 hectares of green coverage, "providing a source of carbon sinks and contributing to the carbon-neutral goal", Gao said.

A carbon sink is a land or ocean mass that can take in carbon－most notably carbon dioxide－from the atmosphere, according to the Energy Education website. Forests, for example, are natural carbon sinks.

"Preparations for hosting the 2022 Games have spurred the green expansion in Beijing and helped to improve the local environment," Gao said.

The landscaping work is focused on the core areas of the Olympic competitions, key lines connecting sports venues, transport hubs and residential neighborhoods, the spokesman said.

Some 250 hectares of green spaces have been added around the 2022 Games venues and key lines connecting to them. Upgrades to parks near Olympic facilities in Shougang Industrial Park have been completed.

Over the past almost three years, the authorities had more than 6,000 hectares of new trees planted around the Yanqing competition area on the outskirts of Beijing.

In addition to landscaped roads and buildings, the bureau has improved its capacities in response to the risks of forest fire and sandstorms.

The authorities have set up a forest fire prevention system, covering the entire Yanqing competition area, and 50 stations to conduct quarantine inspections of plants as well as wood packaging shipped into the area, according to Gao.

The arrangements will ensure the safety of the ecological environment for the 2022 Winter Olympics, he said.