The residents of Nanjing have won a battle with the city government over the planned removal of more than 1,000 trees to make way for the construction of new subway lines.

In common with many other Chinese cities, Nanjing is planning a major expansion of its subway network – from two lines to around 20 over the next two decades. However, the planned uprooting of the trees led to public protests on internet forums and in local media outlets. Many of the trees are of the wutong variety, whose large leaves provide welcome shade from Nanjing’s summer heat and which gives rise to its alternative name, the Chinese parasol tree.

The Wall Street Journal reported that even a leading legislator in Taiwan said that the city government was smearing the legacy of Sun Yat-sen through its actions — Nanjing was the former Republican era capital of China.

Responding to the growing pressure, the Nanjing Communist Party secretary and the city mayor appeared in public to state that the removal of the trees would be halted pending further study and more public input.