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Other places of interest

andboshe@newsletter.paragraph.com (andboshe) — Fri, 29 Oct 2021 06:48:12 GMT

Grand Canal, also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The part of the Canal in Hangzhou was built in 610 AD. The core historical sites are accessible by Hangzhou Metro Line 5's The Grand Canal station or East Gongchen Bridge station.
The world's largest tidal bore races up the Qiantang River through Hangzhou reaching up to 12 m (39 ft) in height.
The residence of Hu Xueyan (胡雪岩故居) located on Yuanbao Street was built in 1872 by Hu Xueyan, a native of Anhui, a very successful businessman. It was restored and opened to the public in 2001.
Xixi National Wetland Park. Established with the aim of preserving the wetland ecological system, it covers an area of about 10 km2 (4 sq mi). Fish ponds and reed beds have been restored and it is home to many types of birds. It holds a temple and several historic rural houses.
Hangzhou Botanical Garden
Hangzhou Zoo
Old China Street on He Fang Street (He Fang Jie or Qing He Fang, literally 'neighbourhood along the river'), which offers various souvenirs.
Jade Springs (Yu Quan)
Yuefei Temple A temple constructed during the Song Dynasty in 1221 to commemorate Yue Fei, which is located near the West Lake.
West Lake Cultural Square is one of the tallest buildings in the city centre (about 160 m (520 ft)) and houses the Zhejiang Natural History Museum and Zhejiang Museum of Science and Technology.
Qiandao Lake is a man-made lake with the largest number of islands in Chun'an County, under administration of the Hangzhou prefecture-level city. These islands are different in size and shape, and have distinctive scene.
Longjing tea fields, west of the lake.[82]
Qiantang river is the largest river in Zhejiang Province, China. Every year during August 15 to August 18 of the lunar month in China, the Qiantang Tide occurs. It is called “the Biggest Tide in the World”

In March 2013 the Hangzhou Tourism Commission started an online campaign via Facebook, the 'Modern Marco Polo' campaign. Over the next year nearly 26,000 participants applied from around the globe, in the hopes of becoming Hangzhou's first foreign tourism ambassador. In a press conference in Hangzhou on 20 May 2014, Liam Bates was announced as the successful winner and won a $55,000 contract, being the first foreigner ever to be appointed by China's government in such an official role.[83]

Economic and Technological Development Zones

andboshe@newsletter.paragraph.com (andboshe) — Fri, 29 Oct 2021 06:47:49 GMT

Hangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone was established and approved as a national development zone by the State Council in 1993. It covers an area of 104.7 km2 (40.4 sq mi). Encouraged industries include electronic information, biological medicine, machinery and household appliances manufacturing, and food processing.[77]

Hangzhou Export Processing Zone was established on April 27, 2000 upon approval of the State Council. It was one of the first zones and the only one in Zhejiang Province to be approved by the government. Its total planned area is 2.92 km2 (1.13 sq mi). It is located close to Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport and Hangzhou Port.[78]

Hangzhou Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone was set up with approval from the State Council as a state-level high-tech Industrial Development Zone in March 1991. The HHTZ is composed of three parts, with the main regions being the Zhijiang Sci-Tech Industrial Park and Xiasha Sci-Tech Industrial Park. HHTZ has become one of the most influential high-tech innovation and high-tech industry bases in Zhejiang Province. As of 2013, HHTZ hosts more than 1,100 software developers and BPO enterprises. Major companies such as Motorola, Nokia and Siemens have established R&D centers in the zone. In 2011, the GDP of the zone rose by 13.1 percent, amounting to RMB 41.63 billion. This accounted for 5.9 percent of Hangzhou's total GDP. The HHTZ positions itself as the "Silicon Valley" of China. The Alibaba Group, the world's largest online business-to-business portal and China's largest website in terms of market value, is headquartered in the zone.[79][80]

Modern history

andboshe@newsletter.paragraph.com (andboshe) — Fri, 29 Oct 2021 06:47:25 GMT

The city remained an important port until the middle of the Ming dynasty era, when its harbor slowly silted up. Under the Qing, it was the site of an imperial army garrison.[48]

In 1856 and 1860, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom occupied Hangzhou. The city was heavily damaged during its conquest, occupation, and eventual reconquest by the Qing army.

Hangzhou was ruled by the Republic of China government under the Kuomintang from 1927 to 1937. From 1937 to 1945, the city was occupied by Japan. The Kuomintang returned in 1945, and governed until 1949. On May 3, 1949, the People's Liberation Army entered Hangzhou and the city came under Communist control. After Deng Xiaoping's reformist policies began in the end of 1978, Hangzhou took advantage of being situated in the Yangtze Delta to bolster its development. It is now one of China's most prosperous major cities.

During the Cultural Revolution, Hangzhou was stage to a series of labor unrest and factional fighting known as the Hangzhou incident.

Hangzhou CBD

In September 2015, Hangzhou was awarded the 2022 Asian Games. It will be the third city in China to host the Asian Games after Beijing 1990 and Guangzhou 2010.[49] It also hosted the eleventh G20 summit in 2016.[50]