Hangzhou the city of water

Hangzhou the city of water

By Waqas Hassan

Water is most important factor for life on this planet, today in this essay I brought my observation about Hangzhou city that why people call it city of water, of course water is inevitable for life but for Hangzhou water is not just life but also it bring economy, nature and leisure in the life of people.

To understand importance of economy in Hangzhou we need to look on some facts that according to china national census of 2010 population of Hangzhou was 21 million on just metropolitan area, Hangzhou is the largest and most populated city in the Zhejiang province and that’s why it need to provide enough economy for the people of the province and creates more opportunities of business and work.

But here I observed some amazing facts that how Hangzhou have ability to boost its economy and that is possible because Hangzhou is the city of water: first Hangzhou is the gate point of the Grand Canal which is 1776 km longest and oldest artificial river in the world and that’s why its declared UNESCO world heritage site as well, the Grand Canal where is the channel of economy and route for transportation for trade between Hangzhou to Beijing, because since 1992 Hangzhou became a economic hub of many industries but without Grand Canal route these industries maybe not get that importance which they have now, Grand Canal is also big attraction of tourist which is contributing to economy of Hangzhou as well.

Secondly Hangzhou and surrounding areas are very suitable for agriculture because of availability of water and water level in this region and these are the reason Hangzhou is one of city who is providing huge amount of rice, tea and other crops and its coastal areas are also very important in its economy and make this city logistics hub for china.

Recent improvements in Hangzhou economy are witness that how this city economy is boosted because of all above mentioned facts and here are some facts about that, The 2001 GDP of Hangzhou was RMB ¥156.8 billion, which ranked second among all of the provincial capitals after Guangzhou. The city has more than tripled its GDP since then, increasing from RMB ¥156.8 billion in 2001 to RMB ¥1.2603 trillion in 2017 and GDP per capita increasing from US$3,025 to US$20,011, don’t you think so it’s incredible and just amazing.

Marco polo once said Hangzhou is the most beautiful city in the china and we found is very true here because of these facts about Hangzhou that this city preserve nature here largely due to water resources and also because of good governance and management of resources especially water, that’s why we see this city as a green city in china, beautiful sites like west lake, botanical garden, tourist point like Grand Canal, Hangzhou Zoo and amazing villages and agriculture areas like Tea museum and natural forest and mountains areas and much more.

All the above mentioned things generate tourism and tourism is the largest contributor in the economy of Hangzhou even at that time when Hangzhou was not industrial and agricultural hub, Hangzhou city have many tourist attractions and first time ever in 2013 administration of Hangzhou city decided to introduce Hangzhou tourist places in the world and they started a campaign via facebook “Modern Marco polo” and almost 26000 people from across the globe applied for this campaign to being an ambassador of Hangzhou in the world and now we feel lucky that we are here and visiting and exploring this beautiful city everyday new facts.

Because of natural beauty, nature preserving and as a tourist place Hangzhou became big attraction for tourist now and every years many thousands tourist come and visit this city but also with its beauty and economy at the same time Hangzhou is becoming host of big events in the world like recently it host G20 and in 2022 it will host Asian Olympic games and many other events in coming years, this all happening because water gives a new life and direction to Hangzhou city which perfectly manage and used by administration of this city.

Another important factor I observed here is leisure, because of nature and economic mixture of this city make it well known place for leisure, many artist from across the country come here for their artist work and this is the place where they can sit and observe nature through their eyes and can write it from their hearts and thanks to president XI that he opened all the natural parks for the people that now more people can enjoy this natural life.

Furthermore I heard from friends here that now for old or depressed people doctors in china suggest them to live in Hangzhou for some time for curing their selves form dieses and depression because of nature, healthy atmosphere and calm life in Hangzhou and that’s the reason we saw here many resort, mansion and residence, there is no doubt that Hangzhou can heal your souls because of its beauty and nature, in this regard I must say the sound of the wind, rain dripping through leaves and birds chirping all combine to make an amazing wild orchestra in everyday life of Hangzhou.

All these three factors economy, nature and leisure are related to each other and have direct bond with water, all of three making Hangzhou more beautiful, prosper, strong, and economically leader in china and I observed that in coming years where Hangzhou is naturally beautiful place in china there also it will be hub of economy for china and will give more leader, artist, player, sports man, business man, educational professional and many other skillful people to china.

References:

Hangzhou.com.cn

China-window.com

Chinapages.com

Zj.stats.gov.cn

Wikipedia.com/Hangzhou