Dandong will face reviews by the national garden city inspection team at the end of August. The city is striving to become recognized as a national garden city. Therefore it has accelerated the construction of its park and made use of its unique landscapes.

Jinjiangshan Park was the only comprehensive urban park in the city before 2007. It was a very popular and crowded park. In the spring of that year, the city initiated a series of projects to reform city parks. On July 1, 2009, Dandong decided to open all parks free of charge to residents.

Yuanbaoshan Park is home to four pavilions. This year, the municipal government is busy constructing five more at a cost of two-million-yuan ($312,800). They will be named Qingsong, Qingliang, Yiran, Qiushuang and Baicao Twin Pavilions.

The city has been engaged in reforming old parks like Yuanbaoshan Park. It has invested funds to expand their size and improve their appearance. A 10km footpath around the park's hills for people to practice physical exercises was paved recently.

Dandong city is more multifunctional these days. It has newly constructed 167.3 hectares of recreational parkland, which increases the per capita parkland to 10.6 square meters, far higher than the target of no less than 8 square meters required to be identified as a national garden city. The minimum per capita garden area is 9.8 square meters in all urban areas. The index of comprehensive park service to every 10,000 persons is 0.0618. The city has fulfilled all prerequisites in order to be recognized as a national garden city.

Edited by Tania Lee and Chen Zhilin