The timber can stop trembling in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. A plan for a metro station that originally had 1,700 trees slated to be cut down has been altered to only remove 289, according to the Nanjing City Administration Bureau. The change handed a small victory to concerned citizens and students determined to prevent all the trees from being mowed down.

The decision is the result of more than 10 months of discussion regarding upwards of 30 plans reviewed during 41 meetings. A local newspaper, Yangtze Evening Post, reported this is the first time local government officials have become directly involved in the country's metro construction.

The final result of the review says 211 trees will be relocated. Another 78, damaged by pests or of little ornamental value, will be chopped down.

Most of the trees will be relocated to a high-tech park in Xuanwu district. The relocation is expected to start after the Mid-Autumn holiday.

Meanwhile, companies and institutions will adopt 60 trees. Li Ming, division head of the greening department, said they are now reviewing applicants, according to reports.

In April this year, Nanjing Metro called for the more than 1,700 trees, mostly London plane (wutong) trees, to be uprooted or relocated elsewhere to make space for six above ground stations in the city proper on Line 3.

The decision sparked online and public outcry. Microblogs were filled with angry messages.

Several days later, Nanjing suspended the subway construction plan and formed a committee to review it. The construction was postponed for three months.

"It is really a pity that some trees have to be felled for the metro construction," Chen Chuan, a local resident, told the Global Times.

This is not the first time the local government has removed mass amounts of trees. In 1993, more than 3,000 were axed virtually overnight to make way for the Shanghai-Nanjing Expressway.