Hangzhou is famous for her beautiful scenery all through the ages and is one of the important historical and cultural cities listed by the State Council.

As a famous scenic city in China, it is known as “Paradise on earth” and was described as “the finest and most splendid city in the world” by famous Italian traveler Marco Polo in Yuan Dynasty. With its beautiful and elegant mountains and water, and abundant cultural scenic relics, Hangzhou attracts thousands of tourists from both at home and abroad. In 1998, Hangzhou was awarded as one of the first Excellent Tourist Cities in China; West Lake Scenic Area is one of the Top 10 State-level “National Civilized Scenic Areas Demonstration Spots”.

West Lake, as one of the top ten scenic areas in China, is located in the downtown area of Hangzhou. West Lake Scenic Area, centering on West Lake, integrates scenery or historic relics and gardens, mountains and rivers.

There are many parks, museums, memorials of celebrities and entertainment places in Hangzhou. The recently built City of Song Dynasty, Future World Theme Park and Hangzhou Paradise and other large scale theme parks attract more and more tourists with its unique culture meanings and interesting participating activities and become the new hotspot of Hangzhou’s tourist industry.

Lou Wai Lou Restaurant, Zhi Wei Guan Restaurant and other traditional restaurants, which are famous for their food such as West Lake Vinegar fish, Beggar’s chicken, Dongpo meat, Longjing shrimp meat, are full of customers every day and show the traditional charms of Hangzhou catering culture. Other up-and-coming youngsters of Hangzhou catering industry, such as Hua Zhong Cheng, New Kai Yuan, New Mingmen, Zhang Sheng’s, Wahaha, have made rapid progress.

Hangzhou has been prosperous from of old. With its unique and beautiful mountains and rivers, prosperous economy, Hangzhou has been the home of silk and famous as land of tea since long times ago. Recently, Hangzhou is on the way of being a metropolis with harmonious combination of history, culture, natural scenery and modern civilization. “Living in Hangzhou, Careers in Hangzhou” are becoming a well-marked slogan of Hangzhou.