Nanjing is known for being one of the greenest cities in China, residents are very proud of the lush plane trees that line its urban streets. So when residents heard that 100 of these trees were to be uprooted, they were far from happy.
It's said that the plane tree was first introduced to Shanghai from Europe in the late 19th Century. It survives well under harsh conditions and grows fast, which is why it's been introduced in many other parts of the country, especially in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers.
It's become one of Nanjing's distinctive features, but now that work is being planned on the city's underground, over 100 plane trees in four districts will have to be removed.
We visited the construction site, and found that some of the trees had already been dug out, all of their branches and some of the twisted roots had been trimmed off. Only the trunks and the main roots remained, it was indeed a sad sight.
Xu is one of those responsible for overseeing the relocation of the trees. He says that people had been distressed by the change to the area and the way the once luxuriant trees with their big crowns and sinuous branches had been cut down and stripped bare.
He adds that most of these trees are around 50 years old. Transplanting them will undoubtedly cause some damage, but Xu says that they are doing their best to minimize this. He says the reason they prune the trees is to protect them from losing too much water and nutrients after they're replanted.
"Some people have been worried about whether winter is the right time to dig them up. Actually, it's the best time of year to do it, because winter is the hibernation period for trees, so they need less nutrients. As well as that, trees lose less water in the winter because of the low temperature. So both these factors make it easier for the trees to survive."
Xu says the best time to transplant the trees will be sometime before next spring, in March or April. But that if it’s left any later, when the temperature is higher, it could kill them.
To make sure that all the relocated trees survive, gardening specialists have been appointed to take special care of them. Straw ropes will be wound around the bare trunks to protect them from the cold and minimise moisture loss.
"They might look dead now, but come and visit Nanjing next year, and you'll find them replanted along the streets, looking lush and healthy again."
(China Radio International December 11, 2001)
