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 paradise 
on earth", Hangzhou, which will be the third Chinese city to host the Asian 
Games, has charted a path featuring sustained economic prosperity and 
harmonious development of humanity and economy, according to the People's 
Government of Hangzhou Municipality. Today, the time-honored city is seeking to 
nurture a brand-new "paradise" that integrates cultural legacies and modern 
elements.

As one of the first batch of national historical and cultural cities in China, 
Hangzhou is home to three world cultural heritages: West Lake Cultural 
Landscape, the Grand Canal and Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City. Like a 
historical and cultural treasure house, Hangzhou is waiting for people to 
explore 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 and 
Lu You in the Southern Song Dynasty. Thus, Hangzhou offers visitors not only 
picturesque views but also profound cultural legacies. 

In this city that has made into the list of China's happiest cities for 16 
consecutive years, a series of activities to showcase the cultural styles in 
the Song Dynasty, a peak period for Hangzhou in the ancient times, have been 
held 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 unique 
charm and development potential of the digital economy has turned the city into 
a popular destination for young people, where ancient cultural heritages and 
modern skyscrapers together make up an impressive landscape.

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

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

Driven by the digital economy, Hangzhou boasts world-class infrastructure and 
advanced technology industries, with dozens of leading enterprises such as 
Alibaba and Hikvision, and scientific research institutions such as Westlake 
University, Zhejiang Lab and Alibaba DAMO Academy. In 2022, the core industry 
of 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, and 
large-scale water conservancy project relics, the site proves that China had a 
great prehistoric rice civilization and urban civilization more than 5,000 
years 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, is 
introducing and cultivating a large number of future-oriented start-ups around 
the 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 marine 
technologies and integrating land-sea development to cultivating innovation in 
the high-tech arena. 

On cultural development, in addition to establish popular tourism towns 
featuring the integration of cultural and natural resources, Hangzhou has 
implemented a series of cultural inheritance projects such as the collection of 
various Chinese painting schools since ancient times and the local branch of 
the 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 in 
Chinese-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 urban 
management and games services simultaneously in a bid to amplify the 
comprehensive effect of the games and build a brand-new "paradise" with unique 
charm, said Chen Weiqiang, executive secretary general of the Hangzhou Asian 
Games Organizing Committee and deputy mayor of Hangzhou.

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

Source: The People's Government of Hangzhou Municipality