Hangzhou

Hángzhōu Shì
杭州市
Hangzhou

Clockwise from top:
Su Dam on West Lake (2008), Bridge on Yanggong Dam, West Lake (2008), Former residence of Hu Xueyan, Jíxián Pavilion on West Lake (2004), Liuhe Pagoda (2007)

Hangzhou

Coordinates

30 ° 16 ′ N , 120 ° 11 ′ E Coordinates: 30 ° 16 ′ N , 120 ° 11 ′ E

Location Hangzhou in Zhejiang

Basic data

Country

People's Republic of China

region

CN-ZJ

status

Sub-provincial town

structure

City districts, two districts and one urban district

height

19 m

surface

16,596 km²

Residents

9,188,000 (2016)

density

553.6 Ew. / km²

Post Code

310000

Telephone code

(+86) 571

Time zone

China Standard Time (CST)
UTC +8

License Plate

浙 A

Website

www.hangzhou.gov.cn

politics

mayor

XU, Liyi
徐立毅

Hangzhou ( Chinese 杭州 , Pinyin Hángzhōu , short 杭 ) is the capital of the Chinese province of Zhejiang , one of the 15 sub-provincial cities of China and the center of the Hangzhou metropolitan area. The actual urban region has over nine million inhabitants and is located at the mouth of the Qiantang River in Hangzhou Bay .

The Imperial Canal near Hangzhou (2018)

The Imperial Canal , an important connection to northern China, begins in Hangzhou . The city is still an important production and trading center for Chinese silk and Long Jing tea .

geography

location

Hangzhou is about 190 km south-southwest of Shanghai . The administrative area of the sub-provincial town has an area of 16,596 km² and approx. 9.2 million inhabitants (as of 2016) . Around 5.6 million of them live in densely populated urban areas (2010 census).

Administrative structure

At the county level, Hangzhou is made up of ten urban districts , two districts and one urban district. These are:

Shangcheng District ( 上城區 / 上城区 = "Upper Town"), 18.3 km², 362,000 inhabitants;
Xiacheng district ( 下城區 / 下城区 = "lower town"), 31.46 km², 405,000 inhabitants;
Jianggan District ( 江干區 / 江干区 ), 210.22 km², 404,000 inhabitants;
Gongshu district ( 拱墅區 / 拱墅区 ), 87.49 km², 288,000 inhabitants, seat of the city government;
Xihu District ( 西湖區 / 西湖区 ), 308.7 km², 628,000 inhabitants;
Binjiang District ( 濱江區 / 滨江区 ), 72.02 km², 131,000 inhabitants;
Xiaoshan District ( 蕭山區 / 萧山区 ), 1,420 km², 1,177,000 inhabitants;
Yuhang District ( 餘杭區 / 余杭区 ), 1,223.56 km², 832,000 inhabitants;
Fuyang District ( 富陽區 / 富阳区 ), 1,831.2 km², 628,000 inhabitants;
City district Lin'an ( 臨安區 / 临安区 ), 3,126.8 km², 519,000 inhabitants.
Tonglu district ( 桐廬縣 / 桐庐县 ), 1,825 km², 395,000 inhabitants;
Chun'an district ( 淳安縣 / 淳安县 ), 4,427 km², 453,000 inhabitants, main town: Greater Qiandaohu community (千岛湖镇);
City of Jiande ( 建德市 / 建德市 ), 2,321 km², 508,000 inhabitants;

climate

Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Hangzhou

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Max. Temperature ( ° C )	8.0	9.0	13.7	20.2	25.1	28.4	33.1	32.6	27.4	22.4	16.9	10.8	O	20.7
Min. Temperature (° C)	1.0	2.0	6.0	11.8	16.8	21.0	24.9	24.5	20.3	14.5	8.7	2.9	O	12.9

Precipitation ( mm )	59	88	115	130	159	185	129	145	171	89	58	48	Σ	1,376

Rainy days ( d )	12	13	16	16	16	15th	12	13	13	11	9	9	Σ	155

T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r

8.0

1.0

9.0

2.0

13.7

6.0

20.2

11.8

25.1

16.8

28.4

21.0

33.1

24.9

32.6

24.5

27.4

20.3

22.4

14.5

16.9

8.7

10.8

2.9

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Source: China Meteorological Administration

history

Hangzhou with West Lake (2017)

Hangzhou is one of the cradles of Chinese civilization, the Liangzhu culture can be traced back to 4700 years ago. The documented history of the city goes back to the year 221 BC. BC back. Hangzhou was the capital of the southern Song Dynasty (1132–1276). The China traveler Marco Polo is said to have called the city “the most beautiful and greatest city in the world”. In its time, in the 13th century , the city had the largest port in the world. Today it is no longer a port city, because the bay silted up over the centuries.

It is believed that the city could have had a population of up to 1,000,000 people by the mid-13th century. The majority of them must have been refugees and soldiers who huddled there as a result of the Mongol invasion. That would have made Hangzhou the largest medieval city in the world before Baghdad .

Population development of the agglomeration according to the UN

In 2017, almost 7 million people lived in the actual urban settlement area of the city. The rest of the population lives in the rural area. Due to advancing urbanization, the agglomeration is expected to have 9.7 million inhabitants by 2035.

year	population
1950	610,000
1960	948,000
1970	1,025,000
1980	1,136,000
1990	1,666,000
2000	3,570,000
2010	5,758,000
2017	7,038,000

Culture and sights

Museums of National Importance in Hangzhou

National Chinese Tea Museum

National Chinese Silk Museum

National Chinese Seal Museum

National Chinese Wetlands Museum (Xixi Wetland)

Zhejiang Province Museums in Hangzhou

Zhejiang Provincial Museum

Zhejiang Natural History Museum

Zhejiang Art Museum

West Lake

The West Lake in Hangzhou

The main attraction in Hangzhou is the 500 hectare West Lake to the west of the city center with over 60 individual sights. This lake has been recognized several times across China and Japan because of its beauty. Partly by artificial damming, copied. In the West Lake there are three small pagodas, which are considered the symbol of the lake in China and are depicted on the back of the one-yuan note. In June 2011, UNESCO declared the West Lake and its surroundings a World Heritage Site.

Baochu Pagoda

Pagoda of the Six Harmonies

The Pagoda of the Six Harmonies , located south of the city near the Qiantang-Jiang Bridge, which was completed in 1937, was first built at the end of the 10th century as a protection against spring tides and as a lighthouse . After it was destroyed in 1122, a spring tide hit the city of Hangzhou, which is why the pagoda was subsequently rebuilt. The brick core of the pagoda dates from the Song Dynasty , while the wooden cladding, which is visible from afar, dates from the end of the 19th century. Inside, the pagoda has frescoes from the time it was built.

Hu Qingyu Pharmacy

Sales counter in the Hu Qingyu Pharmacy

The Hu-Qingyu pharmacy building with a museum of traditional Chinese medicine is located in the Hanghai-Lu pedestrian zone . The building, constructed in 1874, still contains a pharmacy for traditional Chinese medicines and can be seen as an architectural example of a large trading house from the late Qing dynasty .

Tea plantations

Longjing tea plantation

Advertising for Hangzhou on a bus of the BVG

Hangzhou is also known as a tea-growing area in China. The most famous green tea in China, the Dragon Well Tea ( 龍井茶 / 龙井茶 , Lóngjǐngchá ), is grown in Hangzhou.

silk

Hangzhou has always been known as the "City of Silk". There are several silk factories and also a silk market. There is one of the largest silk museums here, the Chinese National Museum of Silk . In the mountains to the west of the West Lake is the Lingyin Temple , which is dedicated to the silk deities.

Paris (replica)

The Eiffel Tower in Tianducheng

With the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe in Tianducheng, a suburb of Hangzhou, the flair of Paris is imitated.

Education and Research

schools

For some time now, new school complexes or entire “school cities” based on the western model have been emerging in Hangzhou. Some of these schools have maintained partnerships with German grammar schools since 2005. One focus is on mutual exchange visits by students.

Universities and colleges

Zhejiang University
Zhejiang Polytechnic University
Hangzhou Electrical and Electronics University
( 杭州電子科技大學 / 杭州电子科技大学 )
Chinese College of Metrology
( 中国计量学院 )
Zhejiang University of Science and Technology
Zhejiang University of Industry and Commerce
( 浙江工商大學 / 浙江工商大学 )
Shuren University of Zhejiang
Chinese College of Arts

With Zhejiang University , the city has one of the best universities in the country. It maintains partnerships with numerous German universities and colleges. The Chinese College of the Arts is the largest art college in China with around 7,000 students and is also one of the best in the country. It maintains partnerships with, among others, the Berlin University of the Arts .

economy

According to a study from 2014, Hangzhou has a gross domestic product of US $ 219.5 billion in purchasing power parity . In the ranking of the economically strongest metropolitan regions worldwide, the city took 49th place. The GDP per capita is $ 24,637 (PPP). The city employed 4.4 million people. At 7.9% annually in the period from 2009 to 2014, GDP per capita grew rapidly.

Hangzhou is the seat of the Alibaba Group .

traffic

Street

Hangzhou is on the Hukun Expressway (G60), which runs from Shanghai to Kunming in southwest China.

The 6-lane Hangzhou Bridge , which runs 95 km to the east over the great Hangzhou Bay , was opened on May 1, 2008 after around 10 years of planning and construction. It is officially 35.673 km long z. Currently the longest overseas bridge in the world. The foundation of the pillars was difficult because the tidal range in the shallow bay of up to 6 m and the poorly stable subsoil presented a great challenge. The larger of the two passages has a pylon span of 448 m, the passage width is 408 m. This shortens the road distance between Shanghai and Ningbo by 120 km. Construction of the stay cable structure began in November 2003 and cost 11.8 billion yuan (US $ 1.1 billion). The new bridge has relieved the main roads in the eastern Hangzhou area.

railroad

On October 26, 2010, the 202 km long high-speed line from Shanghai to Hangzhou went into operation. It is to become part of the high-speed route between Shanghai and Kunming , known as the Hukun route . On December 25, 2018, the eastern section of the Hangzhou – Nanchang high-speed line to Huangshan was opened.

Airport

Departure hall of Xiaoshan International Airport

Hangzhou is home to the province's international airport , Hangzhou-Xiaoshan Airport . In terms of passenger volume, it is the tenth largest airport in China.

Local public transport

Information board at a bus stop in Hangzhou

Hangzhou has a very well developed local public transport system with dozens of bus routes. There are currently no trams in the city.

Subway

The newly built subway in Hangzhou

The Hangzhou Metro has been under construction since 2007 . The first 48 km long line was opened on November 24, 2012. Lines 2 and 3 are also already in operation. The long-term plan envisages a 375 km network with 13 lines by 2050.

Bike and car sharing

One of the world's largest bike rental systems is located in Hangzhou . The vehicle manufacturer Kandi Technologies also operates a car sharing system with electric cars in Hangzhou . When the vehicles are not in use, they are parked in mechanical parking facilities where they are charged at the same time.

sons and daughters of the town

Shen Kuo (1031-1095), civil servant, scientist, mathematician, geologist, general, diplomat and inventor of the compass for navigation

Song Bing (1271–1279), the last emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty

Sun Baoqi (1867–1931), politician, served in both the Chinese Empire and the Republic of China

Xia Yan (1900–1995), playwright, screenwriter and translator

Qian Xuesen (1911-2009), scientist

Ky Fan (1914-2010), Sino-American mathematician

Ven Te Chow (1919–1981), engineer, hydrologist and professor of water engineering, founder of the International Water Resources Association

Chang Cheh (1923–2002), film director and screenwriter

Hu Haichang (1928–2011), engineering scientist

Lü Zushan (* 1946), politician

Marijam Agischewa (* 1958), Austrian actress

Wu Xiaoxuan (* 1958), marksman and Olympic champion

Yu Hua (* 1960), author

Wu Man (* 1963), pipa player

Jack Ma (* 1964), founder of Alibaba.com/Taobao.com

Lou Yun (* 1964), apparatus gymnast

Tang Wei (* 1979), actress

Luo Xuejuan (* 1984), swimmer and Olympic champion

Yang Yu (* 1985), freestyle swimmer

Sun Yang (* 1991), swimmer

He Yecong (* 1994), tennis player

Fu Yuanhui (* 1996), swimmer

Ye Shiwen (* 1996), swimmer

Wu Yibing (* 1999), tennis player

Twin cities

City partnerships exist with the following cities, among others:

city	country	since
Sayama	Japan Japan	1978
Gifu	Japan Japan	1979
Boston	United States United States	1982
Baguio City	Philippines Philippines	1982
Leeds	England England	1988
Fukui	Japan Japan	1989
Yeosu	Korea South South Korea	1994
Nice	France France	1994
Paramaribo	Suriname Suriname	1988
Budapest	Hungary Hungary	1999
Beit Shemesh	Israel Israel	2000
Cape Town	South Africa South Africa	2005
Dresden	Germany Germany	2009
Heidelberg	Germany Germany	2018