Hangzhou

Hangzhou is the capital city of the Chinese province of Zhejiang. With a population of 13 million, the municipality comprises ten districts, two counties, and one county-level city in northwestern Zhejiang. It is situated at the head of Hangzhou Bay and the estuary of the Qiantang River.

Established as a county seat in 221 BC, Hangzhou later served as the capital of the Wuyue Kingdom (923–997) and the Southern Song dynasty (1138–1276). The city has three UNESCO World Heritage Sites, which are the West Lake Cultural Landscape, the Grand Canal, and the Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City.

Hangzhou is designated as a sub-provincial city. Hangzhou ranked ninth in GDP among mainland Chinese cities and 14th according to the Global Innovation Index. The city hosts the headquarters of Alibaba Group, Ant Group, DeepSeek, Geely, and NetEase. According to the Nature Index, it ranks 13th globally in scientific research output.

The celebrated neolithic culture of Hemudu is known to have inhabited Yuyao, 100 km (62 mi) south-east of Hangzhou as far back as seven thousand years ago. It was during this time that rice was first cultivated in southeast China. Excavations have established that the jade-carving Liangzhu culture (named for its type site just northwest of Hangzhou) inhabited the area immediately around the present city around five thousand years ago. The first of Hangzhou's present neighborhoods to appear in written records was Yuhang, which probably preserves an old Baiyue name.

In 222 BC, the First Emperor of the Qin established Qiantang (錢唐)^{[dubious – discuss]} as a county under the direction of Kuaiji Commandery (now Shaoxing). It was located in the area of the Wulin Mountains and the Wulin Lakes. Under the Han, the same area was known as Wulin (武林).

Hangzhou was made the seat of the prefecture of Hang under the Sui in AD 589, entitling it to a city wall which was constructed two years later. By a longstanding convention also seen in other cities like Guangzhou and Fuzhou, the city took on the name of the area it administered and became known as Hangzhou. Hangzhou was at the southern end of China's Grand Canal which extends to Beijing. The canal evolved over centuries but reached its full length by 609.

In the Tang dynasty, Bai Juyi, a renowned poet, was appointed governor of Hangzhou. He noticed that the farmland nearby depended on the water of West Lake, but due to negligence the old dyke had collapsed, and the lake so dried out that the local farmers were suffering from severe drought. He ordered the construction of a stronger and taller dyke, with a dam to control the flow of water, mitigating the drought problem. The livelihood of local people of Hangzhou improved over the following years. Bai Juyi used his leisure time to enjoy the West Lake, visiting it almost daily. He then had willows and other trees planted along the dyke, making it a landmark.

It is listed as one of the Seven Ancient Capitals of China. It was first the capital of the Wuyue Kingdom from 907 to 978 during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Named Xifu (西府) at the time, it was one of the three great bastions of culture in southern China during the tenth century^{[according to whom?]}, along with Nanjing and Chengdu. Leaders of Wuyue were noted patrons of the arts, particularly of Buddhist temple architecture and artwork. The dyke built to protect the city by King Qian Liu gave the Qiantang its modern name. Hangzhou also became a cosmopolitan center, drawing scholars from throughout China and conducting diplomacy with neighboring Chinese states, and also with Japan, Goryeo, and the Khitan Liao dynasty.