Lhasa's Nanshan Park is seeking a soil and water conservation demonstration park designation after afforestation efforts that transformed a once-barren mountainside into one of the city's most popular public green spaces.

Nanshan Park sits across the Lhasa River from the Potala Palace. Afforestation in the area began in 2012 and accelerated after the Xizang autonomous region launched a large-scale greening campaign in 2021.

"We are working to develop the park into the only soil and water conservation demonstration park in the autonomous region," said Shilog Tsedan, head of Xizang Nanshan Park Management Service, which has managed the site since 2023.

The transformation was far from easy. At elevations ranging from 3,700 to 4,100 meters, workers initially relied on manual labor and pack animals to carry saplings up steep slopes. Irrigation pipes frequently froze during winter, making it difficult to keep newly planted trees alive, according to Xinhua News Agency. Drones were later introduced to transport saplings, while sprinkler irrigation and environmental monitoring systems were installed to support maintenance.

"The challenge was more than just getting the trees up the mountain, but maintaining them after they had been planted," Shilog Tsedan told a delegation of Chinese and international journalists.

Covering about 2.3 square kilometers, the park includes roughly 107 hectares of planted land. According to its operator, it is home to more than 1 million trees representing over 80 species, with a survival rate exceeding 90 percent.

Now open free of charge, the park combines ecological restoration with hiking and sightseeing. It attracts more than 600,000 visits annually and was designated a national 4A tourist attraction last year.

Nanshan Park is part of Lhasa's broader greening initiative. According to the city's government work report, about 61,300 hectares of mountains around Lhasa have been afforested over the past five years. In 2026, the city plans to build, renovate or upgrade more than 30 parks and other urban green spaces.