Hangzhou: an emerging brand-new "paradise" blending cultural legacies with modern elements

HANGZHOU,China,Sept. 25,2023 -- Hangzhou,a city of more than 12 million people on China's southeastern coast,is known for its cultural legacies and scenic views. Long famed as "a paradiseon earth",Hangzhou,which will be the third Chinese city to host the AsianGames,has charted a path featuring sustained economic prosperity andharmonious development of humanity and economy,according to the People'sGovernment of Hangzhou Municipality. Today,the time-honored city is seeking tonurture a brand-new "paradise" that integrates cultural legacies and modernelements.

As one of the first batch of national historical and cultural cities in China,Hangzhou is home to three world cultural heritages: West Lake CulturalLandscape,the Grand Canal and Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City. Like ahistorical and cultural treasure house,Hangzhou is waiting for people toexplore and discover.

Many renowned Chinese poets have left their traces in Hangzhou,including Bai Juyi in the Tang Dynasty,Su Shi and Liu Yong in the Northern Song Dynasty andLu You in the Southern Song Dynasty. Thus,Hangzhou offers visitors not onlypicturesque views but also profound cultural legacies.

In this city that has made into the list of China's happiest cities for 16consecutive years,a series of activities to showcase the cultural styles inthe Song Dynasty,a peak period for Hangzhou in the ancient times,have beenheld with much popularity,and Hangzhou-based plays have become hit shows.

At the same time,Hangzhou is also a metropolis full of modern vibe. The uniquecharm and development potential of the digital economy has turned the city intoa popular destination for young people,where ancient cultural heritages andmodern skyscrapers together make up an impressive landscape.

Less than five kilometers from the West Lake,China's first national wetlandpark located in west Hangzhou offers visitors a spectacular view of the southof the Yangtze River.

Only six or seven kilometers away lies Hangzhou Future Sci-tech City,wheree-commerce giant Alibaba's global headquarters with a total construction areaof nearly one million square meters stands. The large intelligent complex hasbecome a new local landmark.

Driven by the digital economy,Hangzhou boasts world-class infrastructure andadvanced technology industries,with dozens of leading enterprises such asAlibaba and Hikvision,and scientific research institutions such as Westlake University,Zhejiang Lab and Alibaba DAMO Academy. In 2022,the core industryof Hangzhou's digital economy achieved an added value of 507.6 billion yuan,accounting for 27.1 percent of the city's GDP.

In northwest Hangzhou lies the archaeological site of Liangzhu ancient city.With its magnificent jade artifacts,magnificent three components sites,andlarge-scale water conservancy project relics,the site proves that China had agreat prehistoric rice civilization and urban civilization more than 5,000years ago.

About an hour's drive away from the ancient city of Liangzhu,World of Metaverse,a high-intelligence park in Hangzhou's Qiantang district,isintroducing and cultivating a large number of future-oriented start-ups aroundthe core underlying technologies of metaverse such as digital twin technology,and new application scenarios such as games,social networking and education.

Hangzhou has been making strides on various fronts.

In the sci-tech field,the city has made a leap from developing marinetechnologies and integrating land-sea development to cultivating innovation inthe high-tech arena.

On cultural development,in addition to establish popular tourism townsfeaturing the integration of cultural and natural resources,Hangzhou hasimplemented a series of cultural inheritance projects such as the collection ofvarious Chinese painting schools since ancient times and the local branch ofthe China National Archives of Publications and Culture.

From the context of humanistic economic development,Hangzhou is building a"city of the future" from many aspects,and striving to become a model city inChinese-style modernization.

The 19th Asian Games opened on September 23 in Hangzhou.

The city will leverage the Asian Games and Asian Para Games to improve urbanmanagement and games services simultaneously in a bid to amplify thecomprehensive effect of the games and build a brand-new "paradise" with uniquecharm,said Chen Weiqiang,executive secretary general of the Hangzhou AsianGames Organizing Committee and deputy mayor of Hangzhou.

By implementing the top-priority government project of improving the quality ofdigital economy through innovation,Hangzhou will improve the local incomedistribution system by expanding the middle-income community and improving thewell-being of the low-income community,so that a brand-new "paradise" withrobust innovation and entrepreneurship where happiness is shared,and good lawsand good governance are practiced can be established,Chen added.