As a historical and cultural city, the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou has 
changed its development thinking by expanding to the east and embracing the 
Qiantang River, marking a development focus shifting from the West Lake. 

Hangzhou's Jianggan District, the bridgehead of the city's eastward expansion, 
held the third Qiantang River International Cultural Festival lasting from July 
to November in a bid to embed cultural genes into the city's development 
strategy of embracing the Yangtze River. This year's Hangzhou Qiantang River 
International Cultural Festival went out of Hangzhou for the first time by 
holding the Qiantang River culture week in Beijing on July 28, marking an 
innovative attempt to promote the Qiantang River culture to the whole country 
and the rest of the world.

The West Lake is like a star on the earth, attracting the city to revolve 
around for thousands of years. Hangzhou has adjusted the "circular development 
approach" with the West Lake as its center by making the Qiantang River the 
permanent main line of its long-term development, and establishing the 
development philosophy of urban eastward expansion, boosting tourism in the 
west, and development along and with the Qiantang River.

Hangzhou is home to a challenging and dynamic tradition, that is, the 
tide-riding. With a red flag in hand and superb skills, tide-riders surf on the 
river waves.

Since the reform and opening up, the tide-riding characteristics have been 
fully demonstrated by Hangzhou people. Armies of "tide-riders" from Hangzhou 
have sparkled on the global stage, such as Wanxiang Group's former head Lu 
Guanqiu, Wahaha founder Zong Qinghou, and Alibaba founder Jack Ma.

"Local culture is the root cause for Hangzhou people's down-to-earth, 
pioneering and courageous personalities," said Ying Xuelin, deputy director of 
Hangzhou's publicity department.

To be specific, the core of Qiantang River culture is braving challenges and 
striving for excellence, staying open-minded and seeking exchanges and mutual 
prosperity.  

Hangzhou's transition from the "West Lake Age" to the "Qiantang River Age" is 
not only the change of the urban development space, but also the change of the 
its philosophy and personality. "Hangzhou is seeking to get out from the 
comfort zone and strive for more," said Hu Jian, president of the Qiantang 
River cultural research association of Zhejiang Province.

Hangzhou Jianggan District is the bridgehead and pioneer area for the 
co-development with the Qiantang River. The district has sought influence 
beyond China by developing close ties with 17 foreign government agencies and 
international organizations. By leveraging the combined efforts of the six 
city-level regions and over 50 county-level places in the entire Qiantang River 
basin, the district has enabled the Qiantang River's cultural influence to 
cover more than 120 countries and regions. The Qiantang River International 
Cultural Festival held for three consecutive years has carried out 41 main 
activities and more than 50 related activities, attracting over 3.1 million 
participants, including thousands of international guests. The cultural 
festival has become one of the most influential comprehensive cultural events 
in the Qiantang River basin.

The event kicked off again in July, and went out of Hangzhou to hold activities 
in Beijing.

The Qiantang River is a "cultured river". Zhejiang is making efforts to build 
the Qiantang River poetry cultural belt, which has collected more than 2,300 
poems written about the river.

The Qiantang River also nurtures people who integrates culture into life. 
Hangzhou has been a highland of cultural life since ancient times, where 
literature, art and sports are part of the lives of ordinary people. This 
year's cultural festival will host various activities such as drama, music, 
painting, sports, film and TV programs and traditional craft exhibitions. The 
premieres of the large-scale symphony "Qiantang River Symphony" and the 
large-scale realism drama "Spring Tide" as well as the Qiantang River 
International Surfing Competition will be held during this festival. 

Source: The Information Office of Jianggan District, Hangzhou City