The cold wave silently entered Hangzhou, and in the blink of an eye, 44 roads in the city were covered with golden fallen leaves. 6-year-old Youyou and her family strolled by West Lake, making a crisp "creaking" sound under their feet. Like Youyou, on a winter morning, many people come to experience the limited romance of 'leaves not sweeping'. On December 19th, a young tourist from Ningbo leisurely played with fallen leaves by the West Lake and soon stacked them into a small mountain, enjoying themselves. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Mingxiang: "I have been to many places, and the charm of Hangzhou is unique," said Xu Guotao, an 86 year old Chinese American tourist. The ancient buildings by West Lake complement the scenery of West Lake, and strolling on the streets covered with fallen leaves, one can feel a unique atmosphere. In traditional Chinese culture, autumn leaves and scenery carry rich cultural connotations, and Hangzhou people hope to preserve this poetic meaning for a longer period of time, such as "blue clouds in the sky, yellow leaves on the ground" and "sweeping the courtyard with three or two leaves around the trees". As early as around 2011, some people suggested to city managers to preserve fallen leaves, so that citizens and tourists can enjoy the colorful and splendid natural beauty of fallen leaves everywhere. On the morning of December 19th, vehicles and pedestrians passed by the fallen leaves on Beishan Street by West Lake in Hangzhou. Photo by Han Chuanhao, Xinhua News Agency. In 2017, Hangzhou announced for the first time the road that "leaves do not sweep". Afterwards, this agreement with the fallen leaves was not broken again. Today, not only the "wutong Avenue" around the West Lake, but also the "Xiangzhang Avenue" on Xixi Road, the "Hongfeng Avenue" on Xuelin Street, and the "Ginkgo Avenue" on Yingchun South Road in Tonglu have been preserved. This year, the number of "fallen leaves do not sweep" roads (garden roads) in the city has expanded to 44. On the streets and alleys, the interweaving of golden and red orange colors complements the urban landscape, adding a unique winter romance to Hangzhou. At the entrance of the China Academy of Art on Nanshan Road in Hangzhou, the elephant slide made entirely of fallen leaves, the pointed hat figurine, and the fallen leaf snowman have become popular check-in spots. In 2016, teachers and students from China Academy of Art launched the "Autumn Leaf Art Festival" to reshape fallen leaves into vibrant artworks. Nowadays, this festival is no longer a space for artists to express themselves individually, but a stage for the public to participate in public art. 'Leaves do not sweep' is full of aesthetic taste and also reflects respect for nature. Children haven't been so close to nature in a long time, "said Grandma Chen Yingfen, who lived in a concrete forest for a long time. Summer flowers and autumn leaves, which were once ordinary things, have become precious. She told the leisurely "picking up autumn" buried in her head that fallen leaves are the agreement between trees and seasons, the beauty of nature's cycle. The practice of 'not sweeping away fallen leaves' in Hangzhou does not simply hand over the appearance of urban streets to nature. Chen Ya, a sanitation worker who has been working as a cleaner by West Lake for 18 years, remembers that in the past, cleaning the road surface in autumn and winter was a "sweep and sweep" process, sweeping three or four times a day. With the 'no sweeping' mode, we sweep the fallen leaves once in the morning and leave them for tourists during the day and night. However, it also requires us to be more meticulous in cleaning, as we have to look for garbage in the fallen leaves. "On December 19th, a tourist took a photo of a fallen leaf on Beishan Street across from the Broken Bridge in West Lake, Hangzhou. Photo by Han Chuanhao, a reporter from Xinhua News Agency: "We have been exploring ways to better integrate municipal work with urban landscapes, gradually discovering a more mature 'no sweeping of fallen leaves' model." Du Wanqi, Deputy Director of the Environmental Sanitation Management Department of the West Lake Scenic Area Urban Management Center, said, "We do not sweep during the day, sweep in the early morning, and sweep in a timely manner in frosty weather," which not only preserves the poetry of the city, but also ensures the safety of urban management. From the diligence of cleaning up West Lake day after day, to the "seriousness" of the willow trees by the lake, to the "warmth" of escorting the little mandarin ducks across the road, and now to the "not sweeping the fallen leaves"... The constantly enriching and improving details of urban management have made Hangzhou's cultural beauty more and more inspiring, attracting more people to come to this city and fall in love with it. (New Society)