Lishui in Zhejiang province has a superior ecological environment. [Photo/lsnews.com.cn]

Lishui in East China's Zhejiang province announced an urban design competition on May 20, inviting designers from all over the world to create a new shanshui (literally mountains and waters) city lifestyle and explore contemporary, sustainable urban planning strategies.

Lishui has long been known for its superior ecological environment. It is fully capable of combining shanshui culture with urban construction.

Ecology and culture are the supports of Lishui's confidence.

Lishui is located in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region, and is an important ecological barrier with 3,573 peaks over 1,000 meters high, with a forest coverage rate of 81.7 percent.

Under the guidance of the Two Mountains theory, which states that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, Lishui has always focused on ecological environmental protection and ecological economic development.

Besides, Lishui has many distinctive regional cultures such as photography culture, overseas Chinese culture, and sword and celadon culture. The city has 17 national key cultural relics protection units.

Protection and inheritance are the soul of Lishui's development.

With 257 traditional Chinese villages, Lishui is the region with the most ancient villages with the most complete features in East China.

Over the years, Lishui has not ignored these ancient villages in the construction of a shanshui city, but deeply integrated their inherited history and culture into construction and development.

Xia'nanshan village, in Bihu town, Liandu district, renovated and transformed old, dilapidated houses into a homestay resort. The village earn more than 2 million yuan ($282,720) from rent collection.

Creative and human-oriented strategy is the foundation of Lishui's progress.

As China's first national pilot city for realizing the value of ecological products, Lishui has solid foundations in the exploration of generating ecological value.

It has developed regional public brands, including Lishui Shangeng for agricultural products, Lishui Shanju for homestays, and Lishui Shanjing for scenic spots.

By the end of 2019, 977 agricultural enterprises in Lishui have joined the Lishui Shangeng brand. The brand achieved annual sales of 8.44 billion yuan and an average premium rate of over 30 percent in 2019.