The local government of Southwest China’s Chongqing has proudly supported a unique 10,000-square-meter crop farm that is located on the rooftop of an establishment that manufactures doors.
According to Xinhua News Agency, the rooftop farm that comes complete with yellow rapeseed, greenery, crops and a pond is being maintained by the door factory's employees, who they take care of the crops as well as poultry and livestock.
An official from the factory explained that they have created a farm atop their building in order to put the area to good use.
"It would be a waste if we left the big rooftop unused. That's why we created a farming project that involves our staff," Lu Xiaoqing, a factory official, explained.
Employees of the factory volunteer to take on different responsibilities in the rooftop farm in exchange for being able to take home some of their fruits and vegetables produce.
"Everyone is happy to do some farm work when they have free time. Now we can make full use of the rooftop and get vegetables for free. It's great," an employee with a surname Hu explained to the press while enjoying harvesting some spinach, asparagus and lettuce they grew on the farm.
When asked about the capability of the infrastructure to support the weight of the farm, factory official Lu emphasized that the building was established according to government code of standards and is perfectly capable of carrying the extra weight of the farm.
He further added that the building's roof was waterproofed so that the farm's irrigation would not leak inside of the factory.
Xinhua noted that the massive rooftop farm is part of Chongqing's way of responding to the lack of land areas that can be used for farming due to its rapidly expanding urbanization.
Other residents in the city also participated in the movement through "greening" their rooftops, also known as maintaining "living roofs," which entails planting vegetation atop waterproofed buildings.