History Evolution
　　 Hangzhou has a long history of over 2,200 years since the Qin Dynasty established a county here for governance. Hangzhou is one of the birth places of China civilization. As early as over 4,700 years ago, people had lived and multiplied here generation by generation and produced Liangzhu Culture which has been called as the dawn of civilization.
　　State Wu and State Yue in the Five Dynasties and the Southern Song Dynasty established capital in Hangzhou which was one of seven great ancient capitals of our country.
　　 Qiantang is the ancient name for Hangzhou. The name as Hangzhou appeared in the history for the first time when the Sui Dynasty abolished Qiantang Eparchy and set up Hangzhou in the 9th year (589) in Kaihuang Time. In the 3rd year （1129）of Jianyan Time of the Southern Song Dynasty, Emperor Gaozong crossed the river southward to Hangzhou and promoted Hangzhou as Lin’an Prefecture. In the 8th year of Shaoxing Time （1138）, the Southern Song Dynasty formally established the capital in Lin’an and lasted a period over 140 years. In the first reign year of the Republic of China（1912）, the former Qiantang and Renhe County were merged and form Hang County. In the 16th year of the Republic of China（1927）, the urban area of Hang County was separated to set up Hangzhou City, which started the history that Hangzhou as a city. The liberation of Hangzhou on May 3rd in 1949 had opened the new historic chapters for the development of Hangzhou.

Geographic Location
　　 As the provincial capital of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou is the centre of politics, economy, science, education and culture of the whole province, a national key scenic tourism city, a historical & cultural famous city. It is a deputy provincial level city. Hangzhou stands at the south wing of the Yangtze River Delta, the west end of Hangzhou Bay, the lower reaches of Qiantang River, the south end of Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Cannel, is an important central city in the Yangtze River Delta and the transportation hub of southeastern China. The geographic coordinates of the central Hangzhou City is at 30°16' north latitude and 120°12' east longitude.

Administrative Division
　　 Hangzhou Municipal exercises jurisdiction over eight districts, namely Shangcheng District, Xiacheng District, Jianggan District, Gongshu District, Xihu District, Gaoxin (Binjiang) District, Xiaoshan District and Yuhang District; three county level cities, namely Jiande, Fuyang and Lin’an and Tonglu and Chun’an two counties. Gross area of the city is 16, 596 sq.km, of which 3,068 sq.km is the urban area.

Resources and Climate Conditions
　　 Hangzhou enjoys the natural surroundings mixing the rivers, lakes and mountains. The hillock and mountain land cover 65.6％, the plain 26.4％ and rivers, lakes and water reservoirs 8％ of the total area of the whole city. The longest man-made cannel in the world– Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Cannel and Qiantang River which is famous for tidal bore pass through the city. The west, middle and south part of Hangzhou are hilly area of western Zhejiang Province and the northeast corner is northern plain area of Zhejiang Province, where rivers run in length and breadth, lakes distribute densely and of rich products. Hangzhou has long been known as “the land of fish and rice”, “the home of silk” and “the paradise on earth”.

　 There are great varieties of biological species in Hangzhou, of which 13 species are national first-class protection animals, 55 species are national second-class protection animals and 13 species are national second-class protection plants. The average forest coverage rate in the city is 62.8%. Mineral resources here include large and middle sized non-metal and metal mineral deposits. A kind of bloodstone is produced in Changhua, Lin’an, which is very rare in the world. The bloodstone is inestimable art in the collection fields of stones and seal stones.

　　Hangzhou enjoys subtropical monsoon climate featuring four distinct seasons, mild and moist, abundant sunshine and rainfall. The annual average temperature is 17.5℃, the average relative humidity 69.6％, the annual rainfall 1,139mm and the annual sunshine time 1,762 hours.

Honors
　　In 2001 and 2002, Hangzhou was honored as “Habitat Award of the United Nations” and “International Garden City” respectively;
　　Hangzhou has been selected as “Strongly Recommended Investment City” by Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers Association for eight consecutive years since 2000;
　　Hangzhou has been selected as No.1 by the World Bank for four years in a row as “the city with the best investment environment in China”.
　　 In <Urban development report of China (2002-2003)> publicized in 2004 and <Global Urban Competitiveness Report (2005～2006)> issued in 2006, the city’s comprehensive development capability of Hangzhou was ranked the 6th position among large and middle size cities in China, the 85th among the global comprehensive competitive cities, 8th place among cities of China and the 5th place among cities in the mainland China;
　　 Hangzhou was ranked No.1 in the charts “The Best Commercial Cities of the Mainland China” by the US Forbes Magazine for four years in succession since 2004;
　　 In 2006, Hangzhou was named as “The Best Tourism City in China” by China National Tourism Administration and the United Nations World Tourism Organization.
　　 In October 2007, Hangzhou won the International Tourism Golden Star Award;
　　 In October 2007, Hangzhou was awarded “the International Tourism Golden Star”.
　　 In December 2007, Hangzhou topped the list of “China’s Top Ten Leisure Cities”.
　　 In January, 2008, Hangzhou was awarded the honor “Chinese Most Energetic City for the Civil Economy”
　　 In October 2008, China Institute of City Competitiveness released “2008 Ranking Charts for Classification Advantages of Chinese Cities”. Hangzhou was not only listed in all the seven classifications charts, but also tops list of “Top Ten Fittest Chinese Cities” and “Top Ten Most Harmonious Developed Cities in China”.
　　 Besides, Hangzhou has achieved many honors as National Health City, National Model City of Greening and National Environmental Protection Model City etc. People in Hangzhou are building the city brand as “Study in Hangzhou, Live in Hangzhou and Establish Business in Hangzhou”.