Workers add nutritive soil to a wall of potted plants in Pingtan.

The picture, taken on Oct 11, shows workers adding nutritive soil to a wall of potted plants in Wanbao Road in Pingtan, Fujian province. The "green wall" concept is inspired by similar projects in Taiwan. The wall, about 100 meters long and 2 meters high, is the first of its kind in Pingtan.

"Green walls" are common in Taiwan. Lin Chien-Yuan, former deputy mayor of Taipei, encouraged Taiwan's academic and architecture circle to promote green walls for green space reconstruction. Companies in Taiwan were also awarded for green-wall construction.

The green wall in Pingtan is sponsored by Li Yunchao, a Taiwan businessman, and is located on the southern side of a construction site for one of Li's projects.

The wall consists of more than 8,000 pots of various perennial plants, including pistacia, gardenia and casuarina varieties, which can live for two to three years. It will be finished soon.

The wall is equipped with an advanced drip irrigation system, which can automatically water the plants according to preset frequencies, times and durations. Thanks to a tiny tube connected to each pot, each plant is able to enjoy an independent watering system.

The wall has attracted a lot of attention.

"It is the first time that Pingtan has built a green wall. It is very creative, environment-friendly and pleasant," said a passerby.

Li said this new urban greening technique can help appease people's negative reactions to the construction site and contribute to environment protection by reducing carbon emissions. In addition, the vertical layout of the wall helps save space.