Hangzhou

Hangzhou, the capital city of East China's Zhejiang Province, and one of the seven capitals (the others being Van, Luoyang, Kaifeng, Anyang, Beijing, and Nanjing) in ancient China, is endowed with irritable charm and vigour as an ideal destination for tourists from home and overseas. Located at the southern end of the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal 180 kilometres south of Shanghai. The city is the political, economic, cultural, and scientific research centre of this coastal province in East China. With a long history and a wealth of cultural relics, the city is a communications hub in East China. Besides railways, expressways and international airports, the Grand Canal and Qiantang River can connect the city with other parts of the world.

With a history of more than 2, 200 years, Hangzhou is one of the cradles of China's civilization. Hangzhou used to be the capital of Wu and Yue kingdoms in the 10th century during the Five Dynasties period. It developed rapidly in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) to become the nation's cultural, economic and political centre in the Southern Song Dynasty ( 1127-1279 ). In the Yuan Dynasty ( 1279-1368), Marco Polo ( 1254-1324, Venetian traveller to the court of Kublai Khan) described it as the most graceful city in the world.

The City of Hangzhou is divided into six districts, five cities and two counties. It encompasses 16,847 square kilometres with a population of 6.16 million. Its major industries include textiles, machinery, metallurgy, chemicals, electronics, and food.

Hangzhou is one of the top 10 tourist attractions in China. It is famous for its surrounding hills and numerous beautiful scenic spots, especially the West Lake. Other tourist attractions include Pagoda of Six Harmonies, Soul's Retreat Temple, The Peak That Flew Here, Hangzhou Oriental Culture Park, the Newly-Built Leifeng Pagoda, Fuchun River, Xin'an River, the "Thousand-Island Lake," the rarely seen tide of the Qiantang River,
and Tianmu Mountain.