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traveller Hangzhou Overview “Hangzhou, the most beautiful and elegant city in the world!” ---Marco Polo

Hangzhou, capital city of Zhejiang, is one of the China's most famous tourist sites. Located in the Yangtze River Delta and surrounded by fertile farmlands, the city has been a significant cultural centre for hundreds of years.

Current-day Hangzhou, with its characterless architecture, has little to differentiate it from other modern Chinese cities. As one of the most renowned and prosperous cities of China, Hangzhou is also well-known for its beautiful natural scenery, with the legendary West Lake (Xi hu) as the most well-known location.

And the West Lake is a true beauty in the midst of a concrete jungle. Praised by emperors and revered by poets, the lake has figured large in the Chinese imagination for centuries. With its willow-lined banks, ancient pagodas and mist-covered hills, being here is like stepping into a classical Chinese watercolor. Despite huge numbers of tourists, West Lake is a delight to explore, either on foot or by boat.