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Hangzhou (杭州; pinyin: hang2 zhou1) is a sub-provincial city in China, and the capital of Zhejiang province. Located 180 km southwest of Shanghai, the population in the city proper is now 1.75 million.
In China, the city is well known for its beautiful scenery, with the West Lake (Xi Hu) as the most noteworthy location.
Hangzhou is located at the southern end of the Grand Canal of China.
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13 cities, counties and districts at county level are under the direct jurisdiction of Hangzhou:
The celebrated Neolithic culture of Hemudu (河姆渡) was discovered in this area seven thousands years ago, when rice was first cultivated in southeastern China.
The city of Hangzhou was founded about 2,200 years ago during the Qin Dynasty. It is one of the seven ancient capitals of China. But the city wall was not constructed until Sui Dynasty (591 AD). It was the capital of the Wu Yue Kingdom for more than 200 years, during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period.
The oldest Buddhist temple in the city is believed to be Lingyin Si (灵隐寺), which, like most of the other landmarks in this city, has gone through numerous destruction and reconstruction cycle. The contemporary building was finished in 1910 AD.
Hangzhou was a capital of the Southern Song Dynasty with the population of over 1.5 million, a center of trade and entertainment and a home to the main branches of the civil service. During that time, the city was the gravity centre of Chinese civilization as what used to be considered the "central China" in the north was taken by Jin, a dynasty of an ethnic minority. Numerous philosophers, politicians, and literature men including some of the most celebrated poets in Chinese history including Su Shi, Lu You (陆游), and Xin Qiji (辛弃疾) came here to live and die.
In 970 AD, the Liu-He Pagoda (六和塔) was first constructed on the north shore of Qiantang River, towering over 100 meters in height. It collapsed in 1121 AD, and was reconstructed in 1156 AD to a more sustainable height of 60 m.
In 1089 AD, Su Shi constructed a 2.8-km long dike across the West Lake, which Qing Emperor Qianlong considered particularly attractive in the early morning of the spring time.
Yue-Wang Miao (岳王庙) near the West Lake was originally constructed in 1221 in memory of General Yue Fei, who lost his life due to political persecution.
The city used to be a port until the middle Ming Dynasty when its harbor was slowly silted up by sediments. And Hangzhou was liberated by Chiang Kai-shek during the 1911 revolution which overthrew the Qing Dynasty, China's last dynasty's rule.
Hangzhou's industries have traditionally been textile, silk and machinery, but electronics and other light industries are developing, especially since the start of the new open economy in 1992.
The GDP per capita was ¥38247 (ca. US$4620), ranked no 10 among 659 Chinese cities.Administration
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