A local resident sits on the grass in Arding Botanical Garden in Baotou. The botanical garden, located at the downtown area, brings a touch of nature to Inner Mongolia's biggest industrial city. 
 
Vegetation in the Arding Botanical Garden. Baotou is the only city in northern China to be awarded the title of "State Forest City" along with a slew of other titles including the 2002 Dubai International Award for Best Practices to Improve the Living Environment, UN-Habitat Scroll of Honor Awards, and the All-China Environment Award. These successes derive from careful municipal strategy to accelerate economic development and improve living standards all while also bringing about sustainable development.
 
People stroll along a broad alley in Arding Botanical Garden's eastern park. The botanical garden is divided into east and west parks, running alongside a main road.
 
This sculpture named "Wu Fu Lin Men" signifies the coming of good luck. The botanic garden was opened to the public free of charge in 2005.
 
People are fishing or resting on the banks of a lake in the Arding Botanical Garden. The garden offers a range of areas to enjoy, including a popular plants section, a research and development zone, artificial lakes, a conservatory and flower gardens.
 
A poplar forest in the west of the Arding Botanical Garden. By the end of 2006, green areas in Baotou accounted for 6,190 ha with the per capita common green land amounting to 12.67 sq m, 4.78 sq m more than the national average, according to the Baotou Municipal Committee of Construction.
 
A rainbow brightens the fountain sprays in the Arding Botanical Garden. Statistics from the Baotou Environmental Protection Bureau show that the city enjoyed 267 days of level-II or above average air quality in 2006, 26 days more than Beijing's 241.
 
(China.org.cn by Zhang Tingting July 26, 2007)