Hangzhou,capital of Zhejiang province, is on the southeastern coastline of China,at the south end of Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal with a distance of 151 km to Shanghai. It is the central city of the southern Yangtze River Detla, one of the important tourism cities in China, famous for its natural beauty and historical and cultural heritages.

Hangzhou governs 8 administrative regions including Shangcheng,Xiacheng,Jianggan,Gongshu,Xihu,Gaoxin(Binjiang),Xiaoshan and Yuhang and 5 counties and country level cities including Fuyang,Lin'an,Jiande,Tonglu and Chun'an. The total area of Hangzhou is 16,596 square kilometers,in which the urban area is 3,068 square kilometers. Among the city areas,hilly area takes up 66%,plain are 26%,and rivers and lakes 8%. By the end of 2003,the total population of Hangzhou is 6.4 million.

Hangzhou lies in subtropic monsoon climate region,enjoying four distinct seasons,mild and moist weather,with an annual average temperature of 16.2 °C.The coldest temperature in January is -8.6 °C to the extreme and the hottest temperature in July reaches 39.9 °C to the extreme.The annual average rainfall is 1500mm and the annual rainy days are about 155 days.Spring(from March to May)and autumn (from September to November) are optimal travel seasons with agreeable and comfortable weather.

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.

Endowed with unique environment by nature and cultural accumulation of thousands of years,Hangzhou has lots of scenic wonders in southeastern China. There are two national scenic areas in Hangzhou- the West Lake Scenic Area,"two rivers and one lake"Scenic Area.