A city can be explored in many ways. By subway. By bicycle. By car. But Beijing is now inviting people to discover it one step at a time.

Earlier this year, the capital launched a challenge encouraging residents and visitors to complete 52 tourism and leisure greenways, using digital check-ins and rewards to turn walking and outdoor exploration into a citywide experience.

Developed by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism together with the city's departments of landscaping, water resources and sports, the initiative connects parks, rivers, forests, wetlands, historic landmarks and neighborhoods across the capital. The routes are part of Beijing's expanding network of walking and cycling paths, designed to encourage people to experience the city at a slower pace rather than simply pass through it.

But the initiative is about more than completing a checklist or collecting a medal.

It reflects a broader shift in how cities are thinking about public space: encouraging people to reconnect with nature, discover overlooked neighborhoods and find new ways to experience urban life.

To encourage participation, the bureau partnered with Chinese fitness platform Keep to launch the "Stroll the Greenways and Explore Beijing" campaign. Participants can use the app to check in along each route, collect points, unlock rewards and work toward an exclusive commemorative medal awarded to those who complete all 52 greenways.

The response has been significant. By early June, the campaign had attracted more than 360,400 registrations and generated over 2.01 million visits to Beijing's designated greenways.

Yet the medal may be the least interesting part of the story.

More than a collection of trails

Rather than presenting the greenways as a single network, Beijing has curated them into different experiences.

Some routes are designed for families looking for a leisurely weekend outing. Others guide visitors through historic neighborhoods, wetlands and mountain landscapes. Some highlight rivers and lakes, while others connect cultural landmarks, parks and urban green spaces.

Together, they encourage people to explore parts of Beijing that often sit beyond the city's most recognizable attractions.

Instead of simply visiting famous landmarks, visitors are encouraged to experience the capital through movement. Walking, running and cycling become ways of discovering neighborhoods, appreciating nature and encountering everyday life.

The journey becomes the destination.

Seeing Beijing through its greenways

I experienced this shift firsthand while exploring two of Beijing's featured greenways: the Ba River Greenway and the Central Green Forest Park Greenway in Tongzhou.

The two routes offered very different views of the city.

Along the Ba River, the atmosphere felt quieter and more local. The riverside path was not just a place for exercise, but an extension of everyday life. Under the shade of trees, residents gathered around mahjong tables, chatting as they played while cyclists pedaled along the riverbank. The scene felt less like a tourist attraction and more like a neighborhood space where people naturally came together.

At Central Green Forest Park in Tongzhou, the experience was completely different. The scale was larger, with expansive green spaces designed around ecological landscapes, cultural elements and outdoor recreation.

Walking through the park, the sounds of summer filled the air. The loud chorus of crickets blended with the movement of visitors along the trails. 

With around 80% forest coverage, Central Green Forest Park offers more than a route to walk or cycle; it creates an environment where people can slow down and reconnect with nature.

What stood out was not only the design of the greenways, but the way people can use them. They are not simply pathways connecting one destination to another. They had become destinations themselves, where exercise, leisure and everyday life naturally came together.

Where a walk can become a cultural experience

For decades, cities around the world have invested in parks and green spaces to improve urban life. Increasingly, however, planners recognize that creating green infrastructure is only part of the challenge.

The bigger question is how to encourage people to use it. That is where Beijing's greenway initiative stands out.

The routes make it easier for people to spend time outdoors, reconnect with nature and discover parts of the city they may otherwise overlook. A walk can become a cultural experience. A cycling route can become a way to explore a neighborhood. A running path can become a place where communities form.

Movement becomes a form of exploration. The benefits extend beyond recreation.

The World Health Organization has highlighted the importance of accessible urban green spaces in supporting physical activity, reducing stress, improving mental wellbeing and strengthening social connections. Increasingly, urban planners view green spaces not simply as recreational amenities but as essential infrastructure for healthier, more livable cities.

In Beijing, that vision is becoming increasingly visible.

The greenways bring together people of different generations and interests. Families spend weekends outdoors. Cyclists explore new routes. Photographers search for seasonal landscapes. Older residents gather in familiar spaces.

The greenways are not simply places people pass through. They are places where people choose to spend their time.

Turning the city into a challenge

Perhaps the most innovative part of the initiative is how it blends technology with outdoor exploration.

Around the world, cities are experimenting with ways to encourage healthier lifestyles. Fitness apps reward daily activity. Digital badges celebrate milestones. Smartphone challenges turn movement into an interactive experience.

Beijing has adapted that approach for urban discovery.

Through the Keep app, participants can check in at each greenway, track their progress, earn points and unlock rewards as they move closer to completing all 52 routes.

The challenge transforms walking and cycling from everyday activities into a shared experience, where every completed route becomes another achievement.

The initiative also extends beyond one fitness platform. Information about Beijing's greenways is available through digital platforms including Amap, Ctrip, Meituan, Qunar and Weibo, allowing users to discover routes, find nearby attractions and plan their journeys.

In many ways, the campaign reflects a new approach to urban planning. Infrastructure creates possibilities, but engagement encourages people to use them. Digital tools, rewards and challenges provide additional motivation for residents to turn outdoor movement into a habit.

The result is something more than a fitness campaign. It is a new way of experiencing the city.

A greener vision for Beijing

The 52 greenways are part of a much larger transformation.

In 2024, Beijing unveiled its Greenway System Special Plan (2023–2035), which aims to build a citywide network of more than 5,000 kilometers of greenways connecting urban neighborhoods, rivers, forests, parks, mountains and cultural landmarks.

The featured routes offer a glimpse of that broader vision.

Together, they demonstrate how movement, nature and tourism can work together to create a more connected city, where residents are encouraged not only to exercise but also to engage more deeply with the places around them.

The approach reflects wider efforts to promote healthier lifestyles, sustainable tourism and ecological conservation while making public spaces more accessible.

One step at a time

Most participants will probably never complete all 52 greenways.

Life gets busy. Weekend plans change. New routes continue to appear. And perhaps that is not the point.

A challenge like this succeeds if it encourages someone to spend a Saturday outdoors, discover a neighborhood they have never visited before or experience a familiar city from a different perspective.

The commemorative medal may be the official reward. But the greatest achievement may simply be discovering a different side of Beijing, one greenway at a time.

Editor's Note: Denique Daniëls is a multimedia editor for CGTN Digital. This article is part of China in Motion, a recurring column that explores contemporary Chinese life through movement – from running and walking to the design of public space, health culture and community. By observing cities at a human pace, the series captures how ordinary routines shape the experience of life in China.