Hangzhou is one of the important tourism cities in China, famous for its natural beauty and historical and cultural heritages. Hangzhou is the capital of Zhejiang province. It is the political, economic and cultural center of the province as well. It is one of the 15 vice-provincial level cities in China.

Hangzhou is located on the low reaches of Qiantang river in southeast China, with a distance of 180 kilometers to Shanghai. It is one of the key cities in the Yangzi Delta area.

Hangzhou is of subtropical monsoon climate, with distinctive four seasons and mild atmosphere and favorable geographical positions and natural conditions. Hangzhou has 6 districts, 2 counties and 5 county-level municipalities under its jurisdiction. Hangzhou covers a total area of 16596 square kilometers, with a population of 6.08 million, including 683 square kilometers of city proper area and city population of 1.69 million people .

Hangzhou is one of the cradles of Chinese civilization. The human being had lived and prospered in this land 4700 years ago, which is called “Liangzhu Culture”. Hangzhou had once been the capitals of Wu and Yue kingdoms of Five Dynasties during the 10th Century and capital of Southern Song Dynasty during the 12-13th Century. It is one of the seven ancient Chinese capitals, famous for its historical and cultural heritages. The city has a history of more than 2200 years since it was established as a county by the First Emperor Qing.

Sciences and educations in Hangzhou are advanced, and there are 35 colleges, numerous polytechnic schools, and more than 80 natural science research institutes here. The total number of college students is 269,800. In addition, Hangzhou also boasts its rapidly developing culture and sanitation causes, increasingly improved housing situation and community environment. It has altogether 12 national honors including National Hygienic City and National Environment Protection Model City, etc.

In October 2001, Hangzhou won UN Human Habitat Award in October 2002, and the honor of International Garden City. Since 2000, Hangzhou has successfully held the annual West Lake Expo four times, and made known its city brand name by launching four gold name cards (traveling, living, learning, and careering in Hangzhou), a channel for the world to know Hangzhou and for Hangzhou to head for the world.