Community rivers that flow through Nanjing city neighbourhoods have been given a good makeover and flush out.
Becoming dirtier by the day, many a local resident have of late been complaining of a bad smell emanating from local rivers. Now that has all changed; what with the new look and a fresh scent, elderly residents have been emerging from their homes, rods in hand, ready to fish the afternoons away.
The Nanjinger visited a local river that runs parallel to a residential street in Hexi and had a chat with a few of these budding fishermen/women to find out what all the fuss is about.
“The river was cleaned out one month ago, so I have been fishing here now since then”, said retiree Mr. Zhang. “The Yangtze River now flows through ours flushing it out and bringing with it plenty of fresh fish.”
“Before the dirty river could not sustain any fish, but now it has been cleaned plenty of healthy fish grow. I mostly eat the fish that I catch. Fresh water fish that have swum freely in the river are much more delicious; you can’t buy fish like this!” Mr. Zhang went on to say.
As we continued walking up the path along the river, we came across Mrs. Li, nestled in a nice little corner near a bridge over the river, hidden beneath the hood that shielded her from the sun.
“Now the river is much cleaner than before, it was so dirty! Now, the Yangtze flows through it twice a day, said Mrs. Li.
“It’s good, I come here when I have free time, and sometimes I am able to catch 10 or so fish. I come mainly to kill time and for a little exercise. I give the fish I catch to my friends or to my pet turtle; he loves to eat this kind of fish.”
During our sojourn, we not only saw elderly people peacefully waiting for a bite, but younger people also.
Such cleaner development initiatives, including the flushing out of rivers are not only helping keep Nanjing beautiful but have also given rise to further outdoor activities for the whole public to enjoy.
