Capital · Historic city · Scenic area · Cultural centre · Zhejiang
Hangzhou
杭州
West Lake, Longjing tea and the capital of the Southern Song
Hangzhou is the capital of Zhejiang, at the southern end of the Grand Canal on the Qiantang River. Capital of the Wuyue kingdom and of the Southern Song, it was described by Marco Polo as the finest city in the world; its West Lake and the Neolithic city of Liangzhu are UNESCO World Heritage sites, and today it is also one of China's leading centres of the digital economy.
Key facts
Overview
Hangzhou grew where the Grand Canal met the Qiantang River, and its fortune has been bound up with West Lake, the shallow lagoon west of the old city that generations of officials dredged, planted and built upon. Two of those officials, the poets Bai Juyi and Su Shi, left the causeways that still cross the lake.
For almost a century and a half it was the Southern Song capital and the largest city in the world. Today it is a sub-provincial city of about twelve million people, home to Zhejiang University, the China Academy of Art and major technology companies, and a centre of tea, silk and tourism.
Names and nicknames
临安
“temporary peace”
The Southern Song name of the city, reflecting the fiction that it was only a temporary capital until the north was recovered.
钱塘
Name of the Qin–Han county and of the river; used in literature for the city.
人间天堂
“paradise on earth”
From the saying “above is heaven, below are Suzhou and Hangzhou” (上有天堂，下有苏杭).
History
The Liangzhu culture flourished north-west of the city five thousand years ago. Hangzhou became an important city after the Sui canal reached it, and capital of the Wuyue kingdom (907–978), which built sea walls and pagodas. After the Jurchen captured Kaifeng, the Song court settled at Lin'an in 1138, and the city became the political and cultural centre of the south until the Mongol conquest of 1276. It was badly damaged in the Taiping war of 1860–1861 and rebuilt; in the reform era it grew into a centre of private enterprise.
c. 3300–2300 BCE
Liangzhu city
The walled Neolithic city in today's Yuhang district, with its dams and jade workshops, was inscribed as World Heritage in 2019.
822–824
Bai Juyi prefect of Hangzhou
Built a dyke to regulate the lake's water; the Bai Causeway bears his name.
907–978
Capital of Wuyue
The Qian kings built sea walls against the tidal bore and pagodas such as Leifeng and Liuhe (rebuilt later).
1089–1091
Su Shi dredges West Lake
Used the silt to build the Su Causeway across the lake.
1138–1276
Southern Song capital
Lin'an's markets, restaurants and entertainment quarters were described in detail by contemporary writers and by Marco Polo, who called the city Quinsai.
1924
Leifeng Pagoda collapses
The pagoda of the Legend of the White Snake fell; it was rebuilt in 2002 over the Wuyue foundations.
2011
West Lake inscribed as World Heritage
Recognised as a cultural landscape shaped by people over a millennium.
2023
Asian Games
The 19th Asian Games, postponed from 2022, were held in Hangzhou.
Landmarks
Nature
West Lake
西湖
The lake with the Su and Bai causeways, Solitary Hill, the Three Pools Mirroring the Moon and the Ten Scenes of West Lake.
Temple or shrine
Lingyin Temple
灵隐寺
Chan monastery founded in 328, with Buddhist rock carvings on the Feilai Feng cliffs opposite.
Historic site
Leifeng Pagoda
雷峰塔
Rebuilt pagoda on the south shore, linked with the Legend of the White Snake.
Historic site
Six Harmonies Pagoda
六和塔
Song-dynasty pagoda above the Qiantang River, built to calm the tidal bore.
Museum
China National Tea Museum
中国茶叶博物馆
Museum among the tea terraces of Longjing.
Museum
Zhejiang Provincial Museum
浙江省博物馆
Holds Hemudu and Liangzhu finds and part of Huang Gongwang's scroll Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains.
Museum
Liangzhu Museum
良渚博物院
Museum of the Neolithic Liangzhu culture next to the archaeological park.
Historic site
Gongchen Bridge
拱宸桥
Stone arch bridge marking the southern end of the Grand Canal, with canal museums nearby.
Neighbourhoods
Hefang Street
河坊街
Restored street below Wu Hill with old pharmacies such as Huqingyutang.
Longjing village
龙井村
Tea village in the hills south-west of the lake.
Qianjiang New City
钱江新城
Modern business district on the Qiantang River.
Xixi Wetland
西溪湿地
Urban wetland park of ponds, reeds and old villages in the west.
Food
West Lake fish in vinegar sauce
西湖醋鱼
Poached grass carp in a sweet-sour sauce.
Dongpo pork
东坡肉
Pork belly braised in rice wine, named after Su Shi.
Longjing shrimp
龙井虾仁
Shrimp stir-fried with fresh green tea leaves.
Pianerchuan noodles
片儿川
Noodle soup with sliced pork, bamboo shoots and pickled greens.
Congbaohui
葱包桧
Fried dough stick and spring onion rolled in a pancake and pressed on a griddle; tradition says it expresses scorn for the Song minister Qin Hui.
Culture
Hangzhou's culture is inseparable from West Lake, which has inspired poetry, painting and garden design for a thousand years, and from its tea hills. The Legend of the White Snake is set at Broken Bridge and Leifeng Pagoda, and the Butterfly Lovers are said to have studied together nearby. The Xiling Seal Society on Solitary Hill is the leading institution of seal engraving, and the China Academy of Art has shaped modern Chinese painting.
水光潋滟晴方好，山色空蒙雨亦奇。欲把西湖比西子，淡妆浓抹总相宜。Shuǐguāng liànyàn qíng fāng hǎo, shānsè kōngméng yǔ yì qí. Yù bǎ Xīhú bǐ Xīzǐ, dàn zhuāng nóng mǒ zǒng xiāngyí.
“The shimmering water is lovely in sunshine; the misty hills are rare in the rain. If West Lake is compared to the beauty Xizi, light make-up or heavy, both suit her.”
— Su Shi, “Drinking on the Lake: First Clear, Then Rain” (饮湖上初晴后雨), 1073
Getting around
- The Hangzhou Metro links the lake, the railway stations, Xiaoshan airport and the outer districts.
- Hangzhou East is the main high-speed station; Hangzhou West serves lines to the north-west, and the old Hangzhou station lies near the lake.
- Public bicycles, lake boats and the paths around West Lake make the scenic area easy to explore on foot.
Day trips
Wuzhen
乌镇
Canal town in Tongxiang (Jiaxing), home of the writer Mao Dun and of the World Internet Conference.
Qiandao Lake
千岛湖
Reservoir with more than a thousand forested islands in Chun'an county.
Moganshan
莫干山
Bamboo-covered hill resort in Deqing, with villas built by foreigners and Chinese elites in the early twentieth century.
Yanguan
盐官
Old town in Haining, the classic place to watch the Qiantang tidal bore.
Frequently asked questions
Sources
- Hangzhou Municipal People's Government — Hangzhou Municipal People's Government (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Seventh National Population Census communiqués — National Bureau of Statistics of China (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- World Heritage List: China — UNESCO World Heritage Centre (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- West Lake Cultural Landscape of Hangzhou — UNESCO World Heritage Centre (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Hangzhou — Encyclopaedia Britannica (retrieved 27 September 2026)
More cities in Zhejiang
- Ningbo宁波Port · Historic city · Industrial centrePort city of merchants, book collectors and Buddhist mountains
- Shaoxing绍兴Historic city · Cultural centreCanal city of Yue, rice wine, calligraphy and Lu Xun
- Wenzhou温州Port · Industrial centre · Scenic areaCoastal city of entrepreneurs, Southern drama and the Yandang Mountains
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