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Yanweizhou Park in Jinhua, China

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ASHISH
DHALOCH

 Yanweizhou Park is located in Jinhua City in China where the Yiwu River, Wuyi River and Wujiang
River converge. At more than 250,000 square meters and carrying a price tag of more than RMB
300m, this a truly a magnificent addition to both the social and ecological Chinese landscape.
Designed by Chinese landscape firmTurenscape, the 26-hectare Yanweizhou Park inJinhua features
flood-resistant topography, natural wildlife habitats, and a networkof meandering pathways
andbridges.
The aim of the project was topreserve the riparian landscape, but also to create a publicattraction

 Due to its monsoon climate, Jinhua suffers from annual

flooding. Hard high walls have been built, or were planned
to be built, to protect the last patch of riparian wetland
from these annual floods.
These floodwalls would create dry parkland above the
water, but destroy the lush and dynamic wetland
ecosystem.
Therefore, there was a need of a contrastingSitesustainable
plan: Yanweizhou
Park, Jinhua, China.
solution.
The Yanweizhou Park project makes friends with
flooding by using a cut-and-fill strategy to balance
earthwork and by creating a water-resilient, terraced
river embankment that is covered with flood-adapted
native vegetation.

The terraced embankment in flood resilient zone is accessible

through stairs and paths along the top of terrace walls for
emersion within the varied texture, color and movement of the

The floods bring fertile silt that is deposited over the

terraces and enriches the growing condition for the tall
grasses that are native to the riparian habitat. The
terraced embankment also remediate and filtrate the
stormwater from the pavement above.

Permeable
gravel
pathways

In addition to the terraced river embankment, the inland

area is entirely permeable in order to create a waterresilient landscape through the extensive use of gravel
that is re-used material from the site.
The gravel is used for the pedestrian areas; the circular
bio-swales are integrated with tree planters; and
permeable concrete pavement is used for vehicular
access routes and parking lots.
The inner pond on the inland is designed to encourage
river water to infiltrate through gravel layers. This

The inner pond on the inland is designed to allow water to infiltrate

from the river through the gravel layers that make the otherwise

 A pedestrian bridge snakes across the two rivers, linking the parks along the riverbanks in both the
southern and northern city districts, and connecting the city with the newly constructed Yanweizhou
Park within the river. The bridge design was inspired by the local tradition of dragon dancing during
the Spring Festival.
As water-resilient infrastructure, the new bridge is elevated above the 200-year flood level, while the
ramps connecting the riparian wetland park can be submerged during floods. The bridge also hovers
above the preserved patch of riparian wetland and allows visitors an intimate connection to nature
within the city.
The many ramps to the bridge create flexible and easy access for residents from various locations of
the city in adaptation to the flow of people.
The landscape architect designed the bridge to reinforce the festive, vernacular tradition, but also as
an art form with a bold and colorful combination of bright red and yellow tones that are strengthened
by night lighting.
All together 2,300 (700 m) long, the bridge is composed of a steel structure with fiberglass handrails
and bamboo paving. The main bridge is five meters wide, with four-meter wide ramps. This bridge is
officially named Bayong Bridge.
It is truly a resilient bridge that is adaptive to river currents and the flows of people while binding city
and nature, future and past.

The orange
causeways
take a
twisting route
across the
terrain,
designed to
slow down
the pace of
promenaders.

Elevated walkways wind across the wetland on concrete

stilts plugged into the riverbed silt, while grasses and
flowers line the river and an observation tower made from
metal framework perches on a waterside platform.

They also
added a
series of
interlockingb
ios wales
terraced
pools
designed to
stem the flow
of storm
water and
strain surface

This pavilion provides a dramatic viewpoint as it extends

above the 200-year flood level. The pavilion features a
detailed view of the pond water feature and expansive
views of the river, the city and the Bayong Qiao bridge.

The flood-adapted boardwalk integrates the path system

with the terraces. This path affords visitors an intimate
naturalistic experience over the riparian vegetation. The
elevated boardwalk is just above the five-year flood level

CONCLUSION
Projects, such as this one, that not only preserve existing ecology but also seek to rehabilitate
ecology that has been taken away are becoming more and more common in the world of landscape
architecture.
Yanweizhou Park is proof that it is possible to bridge the gap between the social and ecological needs