Beijing planning big increase in number of walking, jogging trails over five years

Putting one foot in front of the other is an increasingly popular pastime, and a healthy one, especially in major metropolises - which is why Beijing authorities are keen to keep the trend going.

The city's Tourism Development Commission has unveiled plans to more than triple the number of walking and jogging trails over the next five years as part of an effort to create a greener environment and encourage physical fitness.

As a bonus, avid travelers often say, the best way to explore a city is on foot.

The city already has trails stretching a combined 1,300 kilometers in 11 districts and counties, mostly in and around scenic spots. Now, work has begun on adding another 2,000 km, including at places such as Yanqi Lake, sections of the Great Wall and venues for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

"Trails offer multiple benefits," Song Yu, director of the commission, said in announcing the plans. "People not only get new ways to exercise, but these walkways also connect many scenic spots with traditional villages. This helps develop rural tourism and provides a way to increase the incomes of residents."

In economic terms, combining fitness activities with tourism is a gold mine. As disposable incomes in China have increased, the demand for sporting goods and services, as well as health products such as dietary supplements, have boomed.

"Over the past 10 years, I've been to most provinces in China to climb mountains, and I've hiked a lot overseas - in Nepal and India," said Ding Xiaozhe, a Beijing accountant who estimates he spends about 40 percent of his income on leisure actitivies.

"When I'm home, I go running three times a week," he said. "It's all time and money well spent on my health."

And that's the goal for Beijing. Walking trails are not primarily about making money, they're about averting a health crisis.

According to a report by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 11.9 percent of the country's population is already obese, which in China is having a body mass index of 30 or more. Beijing tops the scale with 25.9 percent.

Getting it done

To help trim swelling waistlines, the central government published its first national fitness regulations in 2009, the same year National Fitness Day (Aug 8) was designated. Among the rules was an instruction for authorities to include investment in public sports facilities in their development plans.

A national fitness plan in 2011 set a five-year target to increase the space dedicated to public recreation facilities to 1.5 square meters per capita. By 2015, the amount actually reached 1.57 sq m, according to the General Administration of Sport.

In 2013, local governments were also given guidelines on how to develop a variety of travel and leisure services that encouraged healthy lifestyles, from hot springs and skiing to scenic hiking routes.

For the Beijing municipal government, getting more people out pounding the ground has been a major focus. Yet the city's downtown areas - with their wide roads and often complex systems of overpasses and underpasses - still have some way to go to becoming pedestrian-friendly.

A 2014 report by the Natural Resources Defense Council, a nonprofit environmental group based in the United States, ranked Beijing 11th of 35 Chinese cities assessed on road and sidewalk management.

To address the issue, the city government has been upgrading sidewalks and bicycle lanes. Work is also ongoing to demolish illegal structures that cover an estimated 40 sq km, as well as to reduce illegal parking. Both encroach onto sidewalks.

Once complete, exploring downtown Beijing on foot may be as pleasurable for residents and visitors as the city's scenic walking trails.

dujuan@chinadaily.com.cn