杭州英文介绍终稿

Hangzhou is one of the important tourism cities in China, famous for its natural beauty and historical and cultural heritages. Hangzhou is the capital of Zhejiang province. It is the political, economic and cultural center of the province as well. It is one of the 15 vice-provincial level cities in China. Hangzhou covers a total area of 16596 square kilometers, with a population of 6.08 million, including 683 square kilometers of city proper area and city population of 1.69 million people . Hangzhou is located on the low reaches of Qiantang river in southeast China, with a distance of 180 kilometers to Shanghai. It is one of the key cities in the Yangzi Delta area.

Since Hangzhou was set up as a county capital in Qin Dynasty, it has a history of more than 2200 years as a city. It used to be the capital of Wuyue State (during the Five-Dynasty-Ten-State Era in Chinese history) and South Song Dynasty; that made Hangzhou one of the seven ancient capitals in China.When Marco Polo came to Hangzhou in the 13th century, he praised it to be “the most beautiful city in the world". There is a popular saying: "Above there is heaven, below there are Hangzhou and Suzhou." Hangzhou is renowned as “Paradise on Earth”, “Cultural State”, “Home of Silk”, “Tea Capital”, “Town of Fish and Rice”.

西湖国家级风景名胜区

西湖是由古代钱塘江流入东海前的一个浅海湾演变而成的。古称西湖为“武林水”，又称“金牛湖”、“钱塘湖”、“西子湖”等。因位于杭州城西，所以叫西湖。

西湖水域面积为6.38平方公里，水深平均2.27米，最深处有5米。西湖三面环山，一面濒城，湖光山色，各领风骚。以西湖为核心的西湖风景名胜区总面积59平方公里，是中国国家级风景名胜区。区内有国家级、省级、市级文物保护单位60多处和风景名胜100余处。其中主要有“西湖十景”、“新西湖十景”；有灵隐寺、岳王庙、六和塔；有中国丝绸博物馆、中国茶叶博物馆、胡庆余堂中药博物馆、南宋官窑博物馆等；还有清河坊历史文化街、梅家坞等多处风景名胜和休闲街区。

The West Lake evolved from a shallow bay through which the Qiantang River flowed into the East China Sea. In the ancient times it was called Wulin Waters, Golden Buffalo Lake, Qiantang Lake and Xizi Lake. As it lies in the west of Hangzhou, it is usually called the West Lake.

The West Lake covers an area of 6.38 square kilometers. The average depth is 2.27meters with deepest being 5meters. Three sides of the lake are surrounded by verdant mountains and one side the prosperous city. After a large scale reconstruction, the current West Lake has recovered the panorama over 300 years before when it reached the most prosperous period in history。

Centering around the West Lake, the scenic area is a national scenic area with a total cover of 59 square kilometers. There are over 60 Chinese national, provincial and municipal cultural relic protection sites and over 100 scenic areas. The main attractions includ: Ten scenes of the West Lake, Ten New Scenes of the West Lake; Lingyin Temple, General Yuefei’Temple and Pagoda of Six Harmonies; China Silk Museum, China Tea Museum, Museum of Hu Qing Yu Tang Traditional Chinese Medicine Drugstore and Southern Song Imperial Kiln Museum; Qinghefang History Street, Meijiawu Tea Culture Village.