The city is also known as the sports Mecca of China, owing to the fact that it is home to the Yellow Dragon Sports Stadium which has a running track, an indoor sports arena, a world famous gymnasium and a press house to name a few of the facilities. This stadium is famous for hosting rhythmic sports such as gymnastics, diving and skating at the international level.
Historically, the city was one of the seven ancient capitals of China and Hangzhou was a noted center of art and literature connoisseurs of ancient times. It also served as the ministerial seat of the Song Dynasty for many years, until being captured by the Mongols. With the capture of the North, a huge influx of refugees entered into Hangzhou and coupled with huge economic expansion brought about by the Song dynasty, led to a sudden population burst here and in the neighboring areas. During the Ming dynasty, Hangzhou was home to a large population of cosmopolitan Chinese people, from Jews to Buddhists, every one felt at home here.
As soon as Deng Xiaoping’s economic reforms started to take shape, Hangzhou started to take advantage of its location near the Yangtze River Delta and its vicinity to Shanghai to boost trade and economic growth, and stands as one of the most prosperous and progressive cities of modern China.
Ever wondered which city is considered to be the No.1 for business in China? No, it is neither Shanghai nor Hong Kong, its Hangzhou. This accolade was bestowed upon Hangzhou by the Forbes Magazine in three consecutive years – 2004, 2005 and 2006.
Hangzhou is ranked no.8 in the overall cities list when it comes to per capita GDP in all of China, and just for the record, Hangzhou is home to world’s most popular tea brand (according to some local magazines) – the Longjingg tea, which is grown in the Longjingg district of Hangzhou and is the only international brand of tea that is hand baked and dried. The vicious presence of such a huge brand at Hangzhou has put it on the top of Green Tea Producing Areas list. Because of this reason, a lot of foreign investment has gone into tea estates, tea packaging and processing and tea marketing units here, churning them a huge profit.
FDI has become easier since 1992, with the advent of open economy principles and laws. Historically speaking, Hangzhou has attracted direct and indirect foreign investment in its evergreen sectors like textiles and silk. Hangzhou silk is economical and of top notch quality and almost 99% of it is exported to Asian and Western economies.
In recent years, electronics and information technology have also been sticking their feet in the door of this growing economy. Toshiba has its laptop manufacturing unit at Hangzhou and it is the only one single international manufacturing unit for Toshiba. Alibaba, a world famous e-commerce and e-auctioneering company also has its home in Hangzhou. Wahaha, China’s largest beverage company is also based at Hangzhou only.
Ever seen those hand held Chinese fans in movies? Well, Hangzhou is home to million of them, and these hand held fans, coupled with silk umbrellas and other Chinese ancient artifacts form an underground industry of their own at Hangzhou.
The Chinese policy makers and economists are doing everything to leap this ‘economic boomtown in the making’ forward. Like every other economic hub in the world, a trade hub must possess good transportation network, and it is in this realization, that Hangzhou has been provided with the Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport which offers international flights to many locations including Japan, Korea, Thailand and Singapore. Apart from international routes, Hangzhou international also services popular local routes such as Hong Kong, Macau, Shanghai and many more. Airport buses ply between Hangzhou Airport and other districts of the city quite regularly, infact, the authorities say that one can find a bus from the Airport to any part of the city in no more than 15 minutes.
Another convenient way for business travelers to reach Hangzhou is to go to shanghai first, check out the opportunities there and then take a bus from Shanghai to Hangzhou, which costs around 85 RMB and is just 2.5 hours away. The buses are luxurious and express, and therefore a traveler can expect comfortable and fast journey. The Hangzhou railway station, or The City Center Railway Station, is situated at the city center and trains to and from every part of China ply here. Maximum trains entering and leaving this station serve the rail route between Hangzhou and Shanghai.
Magnetic levitation lines, or Maglev, are being constructed between Hangzhou airport and Pudong international airport. This Maglev, when finished, would be the first inter city Maglev in the World. Another Maglev between Shanghai and Hangzhou has been proposed and both these proposals are undergoing environmental tests as of now, but they are expected to be implemented soon in the near future.
The local taxi service, with compulsory a/c and Volkswagen Passats or Hyundai Elantras only, is known to provide the best and top of the class service in the world. It is a bit expensive though when compared to other taxi networks around the world offering similar services. A more economical way of commuting in the city, and the most preferred also by the locals, is by way of local buses, which ply between marked and unmarked bus stops and can be caught from almost anywhere, without any regulations.
Historically an agriculture based economy, Hangzhou has guaranteed a sustained economic growth for years to come by investing in more verticals like light industries, electronic manufacturing units and small scale industries and attracting huge foreign investments. Exciting opportunities beckon one and all to this economic boom town of the future.