Beijing’s tree die-off reveals hidden risks of rapid underground water recovery

2-MIN READ2-MIN0ListenPublished: 12:30pm, 12 Aug 2026At a time of year when Beijing’s vegetation should be at its greenest, thousands of trees of various species in a park in the city’s Chaoyang district have withered and died because they were too wet.Beijing-daily" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="117203" data-entity-type="organization">Beijing Daily, the city’s official newspaper, said on Monday that rising groundwater levels might be to blame.Jinzhandian Park, a lush flood-storage wetland park nicknamed Beijing’s “Little Lake Baikal” for its lake and extensive woodlands, has drawn large numbers of visitors since opening in September last year.01:40Powerful Typhoon Dolphin makes landfall in eastern ChinaHowever, according to the report, thousands of trees – including locust, poplar, willow, ginkgo and pine – have died across just four wooded areas near the water. Most were newly planted, but some were about 20 years old and had previously been thriving.