THE long-awaited Xiangmi Park will open to the public by the middle of this year, officials revealed.

    On Feb. 16, chairman of Futian District Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Li Shengwei, led committee members to inspect the construction of Xiangmi Park. The political advisers found the construction and installation of the park has entered the home stretch.

    The Rose Garden project inside the park, which will be one of the first eight featured theme parks in Shenzhen, has been fully launched. This warm Rose Garden is expected to become a romantic place for marriage registration ceremonies.

    The new park can host 20,000 people and it will also be Shenzhen’s first handicapped accessible park.

    Covering an area of 420,000 square meters, Xiangmi Park is located on the west side of Xiangmihu Road in Futian District. The district government approved the project in August 2014 and invested 256 million yuan (US$38.84 million) building the park.

    Before being turned into a park, the piece of land was occupied by the Shenzhen Agricultural Science Group Co. The new park was planned around the original landscape.

    Scenic water areas will be the highlight of the park. Residents will be able to enjoy the greenery by walking across bridges in the park. The new bodies of water are planned to match the original landscape.

    The director of the Xiangmi Park project said that the ecological park is going to be filled with wildlife.

    Connecting with public transportation and becoming a pedestrian-friendly park is also one of the key highlights of the park. Cycling paths and entrances will be available across the park. The district governmental department built a footbridge to link one of the park’s entrances to the residential areas on the north side of Qiaoxiang Road.

    The park will have nearly 500 parking spaces. And it will have garbage recycling equipment, according to a staff member from the Futian urban management bureau. Xiangmi Park will have handicapped accessible facilities, including rest areas with special sensors to help the visually impaired.

    (Nan Nan)