The Liangma River is one of the city’s best-loved (and now best-known) reclamation projects. The banks of the river are popular with joggers, swimmers, kayakers, paddle boarders, picnickers, families, fishermen, and those who are just looking for a nice place to take a post-meal stroll. During the Covid lockdowns, the riverside became a popular gathering place for musicians and dedicated partiers who refused to be undeterred in their pursuit of hooch, hookups, and happy times by the forced closure of their favorite clubs and bars.
Comparing Liangma River to La Seine, as the local tourism board is apt to do, might be a little heavy-handed and even unfair to our hometown creek. La Seine has a long history as a river. In contrast, the Liangma has had to evolve from horse baths to a drainage canal, then an unfortunate stint as an open sewer, and finally, to the lovely waterway it is today.