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120-678: Wang was a native of Hangzhou in Zhejiang province. In 1901, he was dispatched by the government of Qing Dynasty China to Japan , where he studied western economics and accounting from his nominal position as attaché at the Chinese embassy in Tokyo . After his return to China in 1907, he was appointed to a post under the Viceroy of Zhili to manage foreign affairs. After the Republic of China had been established, he

240-688: A UNESCO World Heritage Site west of the city, is among its best-known attractions. In 2023, it became the third Chinese city to host the Asian Games , after Beijing 1990 and Guangzhou 2010 . It was also the second Chinese city to host the Asian Para Games after the Guangzhou 2010 . Hangzhou also hosted the 11th G20 summit in 2016. The celebrated neolithic culture of Hemudu is known to have inhabited Yuyao , 100 km (62 mi) south-east of Hangzhou, as far back as seven thousand years ago. It

360-770: A 2.8 km (1.7 mi) long causeway across West Lake made of mud dredged from the lake bottom. The lake is surrounded by hills on the northern and western sides. The Baochu Pagoda sits on the Baoshi Hill to the north of the lake. Hangzhou was chosen as the new capital of the Southern Song dynasty in 1132, when most of northern China had been conquered by the Jurchens in the Jin–Song wars . The surviving imperial family had retreated south from its original capital in Kaifeng after it

480-591: A GDP of $ 452 billion (the 26th biggest in the World) and Nigeria with a GDP of $ 448 billion (the largest in Africa). A study conducted by PwC and China Development Research Foundation saw Hangzhou ranked first among "Chinese Cities of Opportunity". Hangzhou is also considered a World City with a "Beta+" classification according to GaWC . Hangzhou ranked 89 in the Global Financial Centres Index in 2018. It

600-704: A collaborationist regime as part of its overall strategy to establish an autonomous buffer zone between China and Japanese-controlled Manchukuo . This government was based in Beijing, and proclaimed Wang Kemin accepted the post of President of the Provisional Government of the Republic of China , with its capital in Beijing on December 14, 1937. The government nominally controlled the provinces of Hebei , Shandong , Shanxi , Henan and Jiangsu . But its activities were carefully prescribed and overseen by advisors provided by

720-539: A corresponding population increase and the city developed well outside its 9th-century ramparts. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica , Hangzhou had a population of over 2 million at that time, while historian Jacques Gernet has estimated that the population of Hangzhou numbered well over one million by 1276. (Official Chinese census figures from the year 1270 listed some 186,330 families in residence and probably failed to count non-residents and soldiers.) It

840-899: A full democratic government to come. In February 1928, the Fourth Plenary Session of the 2nd Kuomintang National Congress held in Nanjing passed the Reorganization of the National Government Act. This act stipulated the national government was to be directed and regulated under the Central Executive Committee of the Kuomintang, with the Committee of the National Government being elected by KMT Central Committee. Under

960-783: A major factor in the government's failure. The communist land redistribution movement was an important factor in the Nationalists' defeat, particularly because it linked the interests of peasants in the north and northeast to the Communists' success. In 1949, the People's Liberation captured Beijing and later Nanjing as well. The People's Republic of China was proclaimed in Beijing on 1 October 1949. The Republic of China central government relocated to Taipei on 7 December 1949, to Taiwan where Japan had laid an educational groundwork . Almost all of

1080-488: A massive decline in Chinese agricultural prices (which were cheaper) and thus the income of rural farmers. In 1932, agricultural prices were 41 percent of 1921 levels. Rural incomes had fallen to 57 percent of 1931 levels by 1934 in some areas. Under this peculiar context for rural China, the Chinese Rural Reconstruction Movement was implemented by some social activists who graduated as professors of

1200-409: A month. The war was estimated to have killed between 20 and 25 million Chinese and destroyed all that Chiang had built up in the preceding decade. Development of industries was severely hampered after the war by devastating conflict as well as the inflow of cheap American goods. By 1946, Chinese industries operated at 20 percent capacity and had 25 percent of the output of pre-war China. One effect of

1320-406: A population of 3,780,000 and the suburban districts occupy 7,586.04 km (2,928.99 sq mi) and have a population of 4,461,000. The West Lake Scenic Area holds the country-level administrative power, though not formally a county or district. In the early 90s, the urban districts of Hangzhou only comprised Shangcheng, Xiacheng, Gongshu, Jianggan. On December 11, 1996, Binjiang District

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1440-640: A power vacuum which resulted in China being divided into several warlord fiefs and rival governments. They were nominally reunified in 1928 under the Nanjing -based government led by Chiang Kai-shek , which after the Northern Expedition governed the country as a one-party state under the Kuomintang, and was subsequently given international recognition as the legitimate representative of China. The Nationalist government would then experience many challenges such as

1560-545: A series of peace talks aiming at establishing a coalition government. The two parties agreed to open multiparty talks on post-World War II political reforms via a Political Consultative Conference . This was included in the Double Tenth Agreement . This agreement was implemented by the Nationalist Government, who organized the first Political Consultative Assembly from 10 to 31 January 1946. Representatives of

1680-450: A total population of 11,936,010 inhabitants. However, its metropolitan area, populated by 13.035 million people over an area of 8,107.9 km (3,130.5 sq mi), consists of all urban districts in Hangzhou and 3 urban districts of the city of Shaoxing . Hangzhou is the eighth largest GDP among cities in mainland China with a GDP of around 1.8 trillion RMB ($ 280 billion). Home to

1800-752: A year from 1929 to 1941 and per capita GDP about 1.8 per cent. Among other institutions, the Nationalist Government founded the Academia Sinica and the Central Bank of China . In 1932, China for the first time sent teams to the Olympic Games . The Nationalists faced a new challenge with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931, with hostilities continuing through the Second Sino-Japanese War , part of World War II , from 1937 to 1945. The government of

1920-872: Is affected by the plum rains of the Asian monsoon in June. In late summer (August to September), Hangzhou suffers typhoon storms, but typhoons seldom strike it directly. Generally they make landfall along the southern coast of Zhejiang, and affect the area with strong winds and stormy rains. Extremes since 1951 have ranged from −9.6 °C (15 °F) on 6 February 1969 up to 41.9 °C (107 °F) on 3 August 2024; unofficial readings have reached −10.5 °C (13 °F), set on 29 December 1912 and 24 January 1916, up to 42.1 °C (108 °F), set on 10 August 1930. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 30% in March to 51% in August,

2040-900: Is also the Jingci Temple , the Baochu Pagoda , and the Leifeng Pagoda .The Qiantang River is the largest river in Zhejiang Province, China. Every year during August 15 to August 18 of the lunar month in China, the Qiantang Tide occurs. It is called "the Biggest Tide in the World". The world's largest tidal bore races up the Qiantang River through Hangzhou reaching up to 12 m (39 ft) in height. Other religious sites in Hangzhou include

2160-401: Is believed that Hangzhou was the largest city in the world from 1180 to 1315 and from 1348 to 1358. Because of the large population and densely crowded (often multi-story) wooden buildings, Hangzhou was particularly vulnerable to fires. Major conflagrations destroyed large sections of the city in 1208, 1229, 1237, and 1275. The 1237 fire alone destroyed 30,000 dwellings. However, the worst was

2280-611: Is classified as a sub-provincial city and forms the core of the Hangzhou metropolitan area, the fourth-largest in China. It is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang Province in East China . Hangzhou comprises 10 districts , 1 county-level city , and 2 counties . The ten urban districts occupy 8,292.31 km (3,201.68 sq mi) and have a population of 8,241,000, in which there are six central urban districts and four suburban districts. The central urban districts occupy 706.27 km (272.69 sq mi) and have

2400-499: Is composed of three parts, with the main regions being the Zhijiang Sci-Tech Industrial Park and Xiasha Sci-Tech Industrial Park. HHTZ has become one of the most influential high-tech innovation and high-tech industry bases in Zhejiang Province. As of 2013 , HHTZ hosts more than 1,100 software developers and BPO enterprises. Major companies such as Motorola , Nokia and Siemens have established R&D centers in

2520-657: Is home to many types of birds. It holds a temple and several historic rural houses. The Qiandao Lake is a man-made lake with the largest number of islands in Chun'an County , under administration of the Hangzhou prefecture-level city . These islands are different in size and shape, and have distinctive scene. The Hangzhou Botanical Garden and the Hangzhou Zoo are located in the Xihu District . The native residents of Hangzhou, including those of Zhejiang and southern Jiangsu , speak

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2640-710: Is located in the Xiacheng District and houses several famous buildings in the city, including the Zhejiang Natural History Museum , Zhejiang Museum of Science and Technology, and the Zhejiang Global Center, one of the tallest buildings in the city center at about 160 m (520 ft). The Xixi National Wetland Park was established with the aim of preserving the wetland ecological system, it covers an area of about 10 km (4 sq mi). Fish ponds and reed beds have been restored and it

2760-522: Is located near the West Lake . Lingyin Temple (Soul's Retreat), located about 2 km (1.2 mi) west of West Lake, is believed to be the oldest Buddhist temple in the city, which has gone through numerous destruction and reconstruction cycles. Yue Fei Temple , on the northwest shore of West Lake, was originally constructed in 1221 in memory of General Yue Fei , who died due to political persecution. There

2880-409: Is the capital of Zhejiang, China . It is located in the northeastern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay , which separates Shanghai and Ningbo . As of 2022, the Hangzhou metropolitan area was estimated to produce a gross metropolitan product ( nominal ) of 4 trillion yuan (US$ 590 billion), making it larger than the economy of Sweden. As of the 2020 Chinese census , it had

3000-594: The Constitution of the Republic of China . The constitution was criticized by the CCP, and led to the final break between the two sides. The full-scale civil war resumed from early 1947. After the National Assembly election , the drafted Constitution was adopted by the National Assembly on 25 December 1946, promulgated by the National Government on 1 January 1947, and went into effect on 25 December 1947. The Constitution

3120-691: The Executive Yuan , Legislative Yuan , Judicial Yuan , Examination Yuan as well as the Control Yuan . The Chairman of the National Government was to be the head-of-state and commander-in-chief of the National Revolutionary Army . Chiang Kai-shek was appointed as the first Chairman of the National Government , a position he would retain until 1931. The Organic Law also stipulated that the Kuomintang, through its National Congress and Central Executive Committee, would exercise sovereign power during

3240-538: The Hangzhou dialect , a Wu dialect unique to the area. Hangzhou's dialect differs from those of regions in southern Zhejiang and southern Jiangsu . As the official language defined by China's central government, Mandarin is the dominant spoken language, though it is mutually unintelligible with the Hangzhou dialect. The Hangzhou dialect has an estimated total of 1.2 to 1.5 million speakers. There are several museums located in Hangzhou including China National Silk Museum ,

3360-764: The Japanese Northern China Area Army . The failure of the Japanese to give any real authority to the Provisional Government discredited it in the eyes of the local inhabitants, and made its existence of only limited propaganda utility to the Japanese authorities. The Provisional Government was, along with the Reformed Government of the Republic of China , merged into Wang Jingwei 's Nanjing Nationalist Government on March 30, 1940, but in practical terms actually remained virtually independent under

3480-560: The Kuomintang (KMT) under an authoritarian one-party state . At the end of World War II in 1945, the Empire of Japan surrendered control of Taiwan and its island groups to the Allies , and Taiwan was placed under the Republic of China's administrative control. The legitimacy of this transfer is disputed and is another aspect of the disputed political status of Taiwan . After World War II,

3600-555: The Liuhe Pagoda , located on Yuelun Hill on the north bank of Qiantang River and the Hupao Temple ( 虎跑寺 ). In 2019, Hangzhou established a pilot program artificial intelligence-based Internet Court to adjudicate disputes related to ecommerce and internet-related intellectual property claims. Parties appear before the court via videoconference and AI evaluates the evidence presented and applies relevant legal standards. Hangzhou

3720-632: The Ming dynasty . There was persecution of Christians in the early 21st century in the city. There are many temples near the West Lake. Lingyin Temple was founded in the first year of Xianhe in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (AD 326). It has a history of about 1,700 years and is the earliest famous temple in Hangzhou. Yuefei Temple , a temple constructed during the Song Dynasty in 1221 to commemorate Yue Fei ,

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3840-607: The Mongol siege of Kaifeng , while sparing the city of Hangzhou including the Chinese Zhao royal family of the Southern Song . The Mongols rehired Southern Song government officials and had Han Chinese artisans in Shangdu marry the palace women. The capital of the new Yuan dynasty was established in the city of Dadu ( Beijing ), but Hangzhou remained an important commercial and administrative center for their southern territory. Yuan China

3960-707: The Second Sino-Japanese War against the Imperial Japanese Army , and in the Chinese Civil War against the People's Liberation Army . During the Second Sino-Japanese War, the armed forces of the CCP were nominally incorporated into the National Revolutionary Army (while retaining separate commands), but broke away to form the People's Liberation Army shortly after the end of the war. With

4080-546: The Second Sino-Japanese War , and the Chinese Civil War . The government was in place until it was replaced by the current Government of the Republic of China in the newly promulgated Constitution of the Republic of China of 1948. The oldest surviving republic in East Asia , the Republic of China was formally established on 1   January 1912 in mainland China following the Xinhai Revolution , which itself began with

4200-695: The Soviet Union ; Chiang himself was surrounded by Soviet military advisors. Much of the Nationalist Party, however, became convinced, not without reason, that the Communists, under recent orders from the Comintern, wanted to break from the United Front and get rid of the KMT. Chiang decided to strike first and purged the Communists , killing thousands of them. At the same time, other violent conflicts took place in

4320-406: The Wuchang Uprising on 10   October 1911, replacing the Qing dynasty and ending nearly three thousand years of imperial rule in China. Central authority waxed and waned in response to warlordism (1915–28), Japanese invasion (1937–45), and the Chinese Civil War (1927–49), with central authority strongest during the Nanjing Decade (1927–37), when most of China came under the control of

4440-472: The Yuan Mongol administrator of the city, who according to Ibn Battuta, was fond of the skills of local Chinese conjurers . The city remained an important port until the middle of the Ming dynasty era, when its harbor slowly silted up. Under the Qing , it was the site of an imperial army garrison. In 1856 and 1860, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom occupied Hangzhou. The city was heavily damaged during its conquest, occupation, and eventual reconquest by

4560-415: The civil war between the ruling Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) resumed, despite attempts at mediation by the United States. The Nationalist Government began drafting the Constitution of the Republic of China under a National Assembly, but was boycotted by the CCP. With the promulgation of the constitution, the Nationalist Government abolished itself and was replaced by the Government of

4680-430: The eleventh G20 summit in 2016. In February 2020, the city was under curfew measures due to the outbreak of coronavirus beginning in Wuhan that spread across China . Hangzhou is located in northwestern Zhejiang province, at the southern end of the Grand Canal of China , which runs to Beijing , in the south-central portion of the Yangtze River Delta . Its administrative area (sub-provincial city) extends west to

4800-421: The "1" referring to the digital economy and the "6" referring to cultural/creative economy, finance, tourism, fashion manufacturing, and high-end equipment manufacturing. As of at least 2023, Hangzhou's economic growth has been led by the digital sector and the creative/cultural sectors. In March 2013 the Hangzhou Tourism Commission started an online campaign via Facebook, the 'Modern Marco Polo' campaign. Over

4920-442: The 1208 fire which burned for 4 days in a 3-mile diameter and burnt 58,097 houses as well as killing 59 people. To combat this threat, the city constructed storage buildings that were rented out to merchants where watchmen patrolled by night and was enclosed by water on all sides. Besides this, the government established an elaborate system for fighting fires, erected watchtowers, devised a system of lantern and flag signals to identify

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5040-418: The 19th city in the world with the most skyscrapers as well as the 9th in China. One of Hangzhou's most popular sights is West Lake , a UNESCO World Heritage Site . The West Lake Cultural Landscape covers an area of 3,323 ha (8,210 acres) and includes some of Hangzhou's most notable historic and scenic places. Adjacent to the lake is an area which includes historical pagodas, cultural sites, as well as

5160-548: The 2020 Hurun Global Rich List, Hangzhou ranks 11th in the world and 6th in China (after Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong , Shenzhen and Guangzhou ) in the number of resident billionaires. Hangzhou ranks 13th globally by scientific outputs. It hosts several notable universities , including Zhejiang , Zhejiang University of Technology , Hangzhou Normal , Hangzhou Dianzi , Zhejiang A&F , Zhejiang Sci-Tech , Zhejiang Chinese Medical , Westlake , China Jiliang and Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics . Its West Lake ,

5280-427: The Chinese people. The National Government governed under a dual-party state apparatus under the ideology of Dang Guo , effectively making it a one-party state ; however, existing parties continued to operate and new ones formed. After the end of the Second World War, and particularly after the passage of the constitution in 1946, the National Government was reconstituted to include multiple parties, in preparation for

5400-566: The GMD had the authority to force through even the simplest decisions. The practical power of high-ranking officials like ministers or the head of the Executive Yuan was more closely tied to their relationship with Chiang than with the formal authority of their position. Chiang created multiple layers of power in his administration which he sometimes played off each other to prevent individuals or cliques from gathering power that could oppose his authority. The Nationalist government exercised relatively little control in China's border regions, where

5520-439: The KMT in anti-Communist purges during this period—the Communists were able to survive and posed a major latent threat to the regime. However, perhaps the biggest challenges came from within the administration itself. As Chiang Kai-Shek told the state council: "Our organization becomes worse and worse ... many staff members just sit at their desks and gaze into space, others read newspapers and still others sleep." Corruption

5640-418: The Kuomintang reunified the country in 1928, China entered a period of relative prosperity despite civil war and Japanese aggression. In 1937, the Japanese invaded and laid China to waste in eight years of war. The era also saw additional boycott of Japanese products . Chinese industries continued to develop in the 1930s with the advent of the Nanjing decade in the 1930s when Chiang Kai-shek unified most of

5760-408: The Kuomintang, CCP, Chinese Youth Party , and China Democratic League , as well as independent delegates, attended the conference in Chongqing. However, shortly afterward, the two parties failed to reach an agreement and the civil war resumed. In the context of political and military animosity, the National Assembly was summoned by the Nationalists without the participation of the CCP and promulgated

5880-443: The National Revolutionary Army, Chiang Kai-shek became the de facto leader of the Kuomintang (KMT), or Chinese Nationalist Party. He especially headed the right-wing of the Nationalist Party, while the Communists formed part of the Party's left-wing. Chiang led the Northern Expedition through China with the intention of defeating the warlords and unifying the country. The National Revolutionary Army received significant aid from

6000-416: The Nationalist Government to Nanjing in 1927. Leftists within the KMT still allied to the CCP, led by Wang Jingwei , had established a rival Nationalist Government in Wuhan two months earlier, but soon joined Chiang in Nanjing in August 1927. By the following year, Chiang's army had captured Beijing after overthrowing the Beiyang government and unified the entire nation , at least nominally, marking

6120-407: The Qing army. Hangzhou was ruled by the Republic of China government under the Kuomintang from 1927 to 1937. From 1937 to 1945, the city was occupied by Japan . The Kuomintang returned in 1945, and governed until 1949. On May 3, 1949, the People's Liberation Army entered Hangzhou and the city came under Chinese Communist Party (CCP) control. After Deng Xiaoping 's reformist policies began in

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6240-405: The Republic of China . Following their loss of the Civil War, the Nationalist Government retreated and moved their capital to Taipei while claiming that they were the legitimate government of the mainland. After Sun's death on 12 March 1925, four months later on 1 July 1925, the National Government of the Republic of China was established in Guangzhou . The following year, as Generalissimo of

6360-400: The Republic of China retreated from Nanjing to Chongqing . In 1945, after the war of eight years, Japan surrendered and the Republic of China, under the name "China", became one of the founding members of the United Nations . The government returned to Nanjing in 1946. Following the defeat of Japan at the end of World War II , Taiwan was surrendered to the Allies , with ROC troops accepting

6480-404: The Romance of Song Dynasty. The landscapes in Hangzhou bridges stories of celebrities in Chinese history and feelings of ordinary people visiting Hangzhou with joy and enthusiasm. Nationalist government The Nationalist government , officially the National Government of the Republic of China , refers to the government of the Republic of China from 1 July 1925 to 20 May 1948, led by

6600-403: The United States with tangible but limited progress in modernizing the tax, infrastructural, economical, cultural, and educational equipment and mechanisms of rural regions. The social activists actively coordinated with the local governments in towns and villages since the early 1930s. However, this policy was subsequently neglected and canceled by the Nationalist government due to rampant wars and

6720-599: The World". The world's largest tidal bore races up the Qiantang River through Hangzhou reaching up to 12 m (39 ft) in height. Hangzhou's climate is humid subtropical ( Köppen Cfa ) with four distinct seasons, characterised by long, very hot, humid summers and chilly, cloudy and drier winters, albeit with occasional snow. The mean annual temperature is 17.0 °C (62.6 °F), with monthly daily averages ranging from 5 °C (41.0 °F) in January to 29.3 °C (84.7 °F) in July. The city receives an average annual rainfall of 1,438 mm (56.6 in) and

6840-399: The area of Wulin Mountains and Wulin Lakes, Hangzhou's aliases Qiantang ( 錢唐 ) and Wulin ( 武林 ) began to appear during the Qin and Han dynasties. Hangzhou was made the seat of the prefecture of Hang in AD 589 , entitling it to a city wall which was constructed two years later. By a longstanding convention also seen in other cities like Guangzhou and Fuzhou , the city took on

6960-472: The arts, particularly of Buddhist temple architecture and artwork. The dyke built to protect the city by King   Qian Liu gave the Qiantang its modern name. Hangzhou also became a cosmopolitan center, drawing scholars from throughout China and conducting diplomacy with neighboring Chinese states, and also with Japan , Goryeo , and the Khitan Liao dynasty . In 1089, another renowned poet governor Su Shi (Su Dongpo) used 200,000 workers to construct

7080-413: The beginning the Nanjing decade . According to Sun Yat-sen's "Three Stages of Revolution" theory, the KMT was to rebuild China in three phases: the first stage was military unification, which was carried out with the Northern Expedition; the second was " political tutelage  [ zh ] " which was a provisional government led by the KMT to educate people about their political and civil rights, and

7200-435: The city receives 1,709.4 hours of sunshine annually. and (yearend est.) As of 2023, Hangzhou had a permanent population of 12.522 million (including Xiaoshan and Yuhang), of which 10.543 million (84.2%) lived in urban areas. The encompassing metropolitan area was estimated by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) to have, as of 2010 , a population of 13.4 million, although other sources put

7320-436: The convention that drafted it, boycotted and declared after the ratification that not only would it not recognize the ROC constitution, but all bills passed by the Nationalist administration would be disregarded as well. Zhou Enlai challenged the legitimacy of the National Assembly in 1947 by accusing the KMT of hand-picking the members of the National Assembly 10 years earlier; claiming they thus could not legitimately represent

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7440-399: The country and brought political stability. China's industries developed and grew from 1927 to 1931. Though badly hit by the Great Depression from 1931 to 1935 and Japan's occupation of Manchuria in 1931, industrial output recovered by 1936. By 1936, industrial output had recovered and surpassed its previous peak in 1931 prior to the Great Depression's effects on China. This is best shown by

7560-424: The dyke, making it a landmark. It is listed as one of the Seven Ancient Capitals of China . It was first the capital of the Wuyue Kingdom from 907 to 978 during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period . Named Xifu ( 西府 ) at the time, it was one of the three great bastions of culture in southern China during the tenth century , along with Nanjing and Chengdu . Leaders of Wuyue were noted patrons of

7680-428: The end of 1978, Hangzhou took advantage of being situated in the Yangtze Delta to bolster its development. It is now one of China's most prosperous major cities. During the Cultural Revolution , Hangzhou was stage to a series of labor unrest and factional fighting known as the Hangzhou incident . Hangzhou was the third city in China to host the Asian Games after Beijing 1990 and Guangzhou 2010 . It also hosted

7800-482: The figure at over 21 million. The Hangzhou metropolitan area includes the major cities of Shaoxing , Jiaxing and Huzhou . Hangzhou has a life expectancy of 83.18 years for the city's registered population as of 2021 , one of the highest in China. In 1848, during the Qing dynasty , Hangzhou was described as the "stronghold" of Islam in China , the city containing several mosques with Arabic inscriptions. A Hui from Ningbo also told an Englishman that Hangzhou

7920-459: The headquarters of large global tech companies such as Alibaba Group , Ant Group , and NetEase , Hangzhou is known for attracting professionals and entrepreneurs who work in information technology . As of August 2023 , Hangzhou has the tenth-most Fortune Global 500 headquarters of any city in the world and the fourth-most in China – after Beijing , Shanghai and Shenzhen  – within its city limits. According to

8040-445: The lack of resources following the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Second Chinese Civil War . In 1937, Japan invaded China and the resulting warfare laid waste to China. Most of the prosperous east China coast was occupied by the Japanese, who carried out various atrocities such as the Rape of Nanjing in 1937 and random massacres of whole villages. In one anti-guerrilla sweep in 1942, the Japanese killed up to 200,000 civilians in

8160-427: The large population. Arab merchants lived in Hangzhou during the Song dynasty , due to the fact that the oceangoing trade passages took precedence over land trade during this time. The Phoenix Mosque was constructed by a Persian settler in Hangzhou at this time. From 1132 until the Mongol invasion of 1276, Hangzhou remained the capital of the Southern Song dynasty and was known as Lin'an ( 臨安 ). It served as

8280-408: The largest silk museum in the world, China National Tea Museum ( 中国茶叶博物馆 ), and Zhejiang Provincial Museum , which has a collection of integrated human studies, exhibition and research with over 100,000 collected cultural relics. Many theaters in Hangzhou host opera shows such as Yue opera . There are several big shows themed with the history and culture of Hangzhou like Impression West Lake and

8400-437: The most celebrated poets in Chinese history such as Su Shi , Lu You , and Xin Qiji came here to live and die. Hangzhou is also the birthplace and final resting place of the scientist Shen Kuo (1031–1095 AD), his tomb being located in the Yuhang district. During the Southern Song dynasty, commercial expansion, an influx of refugees from the conquered north, and the growth of the official and military establishments, led to

8520-417: The mountainous parts of Anhui province, and east to the coastal plain near Hangzhou Bay . The city center is built around the eastern and northern sides of the West Lake, just north of the Qiantang River . The Qiantang River is the largest river in Zhejiang Province, China. Every year during August 15 to August 18 of the lunar month in China, the Qiantang Tide occurs. It is called "the Biggest Tide in

8640-627: The name of the " North China Political Council " ( 華北政務委員會 ) until the end of the war. Wang Kemin retained power as Chairman of the North China Political Council, as well as becoming Internal Affairs Minister in the Nanjing Nationalist Government. Wang was arrested by the government of the Republic of China after the surrender of Japan and tried for treason . He committed suicide before the conclusion of his trial on December 25, 1945. Hangzhou Hangzhou

8760-453: The name of the area it administered and became known as Hangzhou. Hangzhou was at the southern end of China's Grand Canal which extends to Beijing. The canal evolved over centuries but reached its full length by 609. In the Tang dynasty , Bai Juyi , a renowned poet, was appointed governor of Hangzhou. He noticed that the farmland nearby depended on the water of West Lake , but due to negligence

8880-626: The national government was seven ministries – Interior, Foreign Affairs, Finance, Transport, Justice, Agriculture and Mines, and Commerce. There were also additional institutions such as the Supreme Court, Control Yuan, and the General Academy. With the promulgation of the Organic Law of the National Government in October 1928, the government was reorganized into five different branches or Yuan, namely

9000-521: The nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) party. Following the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution , revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen was elected to be China's provisional president and founded the Provisional Government of the Republic of China . To preserve national unity, Sun ceded the presidency to military strongman Yuan Shikai , who established the Beiyang government . After a failed attempt to install himself as Emperor of China , Yuan died in 1916, leaving

9120-582: The natural environment of the lake and hills, including Phoenix Mountain . There are two causeways across the lake. The west of the lake contains Dreaming of the Tiger Spring , popular for longjing tea fields. The parts of the Grand Canal in Hangzhou, also a World Heritage Site was built in 610 AD. The core historical sites are accessible by Hangzhou Metro Line 5 's The Grand Canal station or East Gongchen Bridge station . The West Lake Cultural Square

9240-422: The next year nearly 26,000 participants applied from around the globe, in the hopes of becoming Hangzhou's first foreign tourism ambassador. In a press conference in Hangzhou on 20 May 2014, Liam Bates was announced as the successful winner and won a $ 55,000 contract, being the first foreigner ever to be appointed by China's government in such an official role. Hangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone

9360-459: The old dyke had collapsed, and the lake so dried out that the local farmers were suffering from severe drought . He ordered the construction of a stronger and taller dyke, with a dam to control the flow of water, mitigating the drought problem. The livelihood of local people of Hangzhou improved over the following years. Bai Juyi used his leisure time to enjoy the West Lake, visiting it almost daily. He then had willows and other trees planted along

9480-476: The opposing KMT factions, Chiang relied increasingly on the National Revolutionary Army . Economic growth and social improvements were mixed. The Kuomintang supported women's rights and education, the abolition of polygamy, and foot binding. The government of the Republic of China under Chiang's leadership also enacted a women's quota in the parliament with reserved seats for women. During the Nanjing Decade ,

9600-640: The original home of the Kaifeng Jewish community . There was formerly a Jewish synagogue in Ningbo, as well as one in Hangzhou, but no traces of them are now discoverable, and the only Jews known to exist in China were in Kaifeng. Two of the Three Pillars of Chinese Catholicism were from Hangzhou. The Immaculate Conception Cathedral of Hangzhou is one of the oldest Catholic churches in China, dating back 400 years to

9720-556: The palace walls. The city walls were built with tamped earth and stone and was 30 feet high and 10 feet thick at its base. There were 13 gates and several towers on the walls. The walls covered the city by four miles north to south and only one mile east to west. According to the Italian explorer Odoric of Pordenone , Hangzhou was the greatest city in the world. It was heavily populated and filled with large family estates. It had 12,000 bridges. Bread, pork, rice, and wine were abundant despite

9840-538: The period of political tutelage, and the KMT's Political Council would guide and superintend the National Government in the execution of important national affairs and that the council has the power to interpret or amend the organic law. Authority within the Nationalist government ultimately lay with Chiang Kai-shek. All major policy changes on military, diplomatic, or economic issues required his approval. According to historian Odd Arne Westad , "no other leader within

9960-521: The political fragmentation along ethnic lines that began after the fall of the Qing dynasty continued. The National Revolutionary Army ( NRA ) ( traditional Chinese : 國民革命軍 ; simplified Chinese : 国民革命军 ; pinyin : Guómín Gémìng Jūn ; Wade–Giles : Kuo-min Ke-ming Chün ), pre-1928 sometimes shortened to 革命軍 or Revolutionary Army and between 1928 and 1947 as 國軍 or National Army

10080-546: The premiership of Gao Lingwei . However, Wang was strongly opposed by the Fengtian clique led by Zhang Zuolin , and forced to resign his post after only a week. He returned as Minister of Finance with the support of Cao Kun of the Zhili clique from November 1923-October 1924. During this time, he also oversaw the operations of a number of other banks, including the Bank of Tianjin . After

10200-425: The promulgation of the Constitution of the Republic of China in 1947 and the formal end of the KMT party-state, the National Revolutionary Army was renamed the Republic of China Armed Forces , with the bulk of its forces forming the Republic of China Army , which retreated to Taiwan in 1949 . Forced conscription campaigns were conducted by the military; they are described by Rudolph Rummel as such: Then there

10320-635: The provinces. The loyalty of these figures was often highly suspect, and they frequently engaged in acts of open defiance, as in the Xi'an Incident of 1936, or even rebellion . In alliance with local landlords and other power-brokers, they blocked moderate land reforms that might have benefits the rural poor. Instead, the poor peasants remained a consistent source of recruits for the Communist Party. While weakened by frequent massacres and purges—historian Rudolph Rummel estimated that 1,654,000 people were killed by

10440-431: 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 1.3509 trillion in 2018 and GDP per capita increasing from US$ 3,020 to $ 21,184. As of 2019, the Hangzhou metropolitan area was estimated to produce a gross metropolitan product ( nominal ) of 3.2 trillion yuan ($ 486.53 billion), making it larger than the economies of Argentina, with

10560-654: The rural economy was hit hard by the Great Depression of the 1930s, in which an overproduction of agricultural goods lead to massive falling prices for China as well as an increase in foreign imports (as agricultural goods produced in western countries were "dumped" in China). In 1931, imports of rice in China amounted to 21 million bushels compared with 12 million in 1928. Other goods saw even more staggering increases. In 1932, 15 million bushels of grain were imported compared with 900,000 in 1928. This increased competition leads to

10680-464: The seat of the imperial government, a center of trade and entertainment, and the nexus of the main branches of the civil service . During that time the city was a gravitational center of Chinese civilization as what used to be considered "central China" in the north was taken by the Jin , an ethnic minority dynasty ruled by Jurchens . Numerous philosophers, politicians, and men of literature, including some of

10800-575: The source of the flames and direct the response, and charged more than 3,000 soldiers with the task of putting out fire. Hangzhou was besieged and captured by the advancing Mongol armies of Kublai Khan in 1276, three years before the final collapse of the Southern Song. Historian Patricia Buckley Ebrey noted that the Mongol Yuan dynasty killed the Jurchen Wanyan royal family by the hundreds in

10920-400: The south of China where peasant associations supported by the CCP were attacking landlords and local gentry, who formed a base of political support for the KMT right-wing and recruitment for Nationalist soldiers. These events eventually led to the Chinese Civil War between the Nationalist Party and the CCP. Chiang Kai-shek pushed the CCP into the interior as he sought to destroy them, and moved

11040-732: The spread of education increased the literacy rate across China and promoted the ideals of Sun Yat-sen's Three Principles of the People of democracy, republicanism, science, constitutionalism, and Chinese Nationalism based on the Political Tutelage of the Kuomintang. However, periodic famines continued: in Northern China from 1928 to 1930, in Sichuan from 1936 to 1937, and in Henan from 1942 to 1943. In total, these famines cost at least 11.7 million lives. GDP growth averaged 3.9 per cent

11160-523: The success of Chiang Kai-shek 's Northern Expedition a warrant for Wang's arrest was issued by the Kuomintang and he fled to Dalian in the Kwantung Leased Territory under Japanese jurisdiction. In 1931, Wang Kemin returned to Beijing when Zhang Xueliang took control of Hebei Province, and took a post in the Peking Finance committee. He became mayor of Tianjin in 1932. In 1935 Wang

11280-479: The surrender of the Japanese garrison. The government of the ROC proclaimed the " retrocession " of Taiwan to the Republic of China and established a provincial government on the island. The military administration of the ROC extended over Taiwan, which led to widespread unrest and increasing tensions between local Taiwanese and mainlanders. The shooting of a civilian on 28 February 1947 triggered an island-wide unrest, which

11400-845: The tenth-most Fortune Global 500 headquarters of any city in the world and the fourth-most in China ;– after Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen – within its city limits. Hangzhou is the headquarters of several technology companies including Alibaba Group , NetEase , Ant Group , Geely , and HikVision . As a result of its internet industry, many programmers from other cities such as Shanghai or Beijing have come to Hangzhou. The city has developed many new industries, including medicine, information technology, heavy equipment, automotive components, household electrical appliances, electronics, telecommunication, fine chemicals, chemical fibre and food processing. The city describes its important industries as "1 + 6" industrial clusters, with

11520-415: The third stage would be constitutional government.( Fung 2000 , p. 30) By 1928, the Nationalists claimed that they had succeeded in reunifying China and were beginning the second stage, the period of so-called "tutelage". In 1931, they promulgated a provisional constitution that established the one-party rule of the KMT and promised eventual democratization. In practice, this meant that Chiang Kai-Shek

11640-583: The trends in Chinese GDP . In 1932, China's GDP peaked at US$ 28.8 billion, before falling to $ 21.3 billion by 1934 and recovering to $ 23.7 billion by 1935. By 1930, foreign investment in China totaled $ 3.5 billion, with Japan leading ($ 1.4 billion) and the United Kingdom at 1 billion. By 1948, however, the capital stock had halted with investment dropping to only $ 3 billion, with the US and Britain leading. However,

11760-405: The war was a massive increase in government control of industries. In 1936, government-owned industries were only 15% of GDP. However, the ROC government took control of many industries in order to fight the war. In 1938, the ROC established a commission for industries and mines to control and supervise firms, as well as instilling price controls. By 1942, 70 percent of the capital of Chinese industry

11880-849: The way, sometimes less than 50 percent reaching camp alive. Then recruit camp was no better, with hospitals resembling Nazi concentration camps like Buchenwald. Probably 3,081,000 died during the Sino-Japanese War; likely another 1,131,000 during the Civil War – 4,212,000 dead in total. Just during conscription. Because of the Nationalist government's increasing inability to fund the military, especially after Japan's success in Operation Ichigo , Nationalist authorities overlooked military corruption and smuggling. The Nationalist army increasingly turned to raiding villages to press-gang peasants into service and force marching them to assigned units. After

12000-569: The zone. In 2011, the GDP of the zone rose by 13.1 percent, amounting to RMB 41.63 billion. This accounted for 5.9 percent of Hangzhou's total GDP. The HHTZ positions itself as the "Silicon Valley" of China. The Alibaba Group is headquartered in the zone. Although Hangzhou has been through many recent urban developments, it still retains its historical and cultural heritage and natural environment. Today, tourism remains an important factor for Hangzhou's economy. Hangzhou has numerous skyscrapers , making it

12120-405: Was "the biggest city I have ever seen on the face of the earth." He visited Hangzhou in 1345 and noted its charm and described how the city sat on a beautiful lake and was surrounded by gentle green hills. He was particularly impressed by the large number of well-crafted and well-painted Chinese wooden ships with colored sails and silk awnings in the canals. He attended a banquet held by Qurtai,

12240-476: Was able to continue authoritarian rule. Even had it been the KMT's intention, historians such as Edmund Fung argue that they may not have been able to establish a democracy under the circumstances of the time.( Fung 2000 , p. 30) Despite nominal reunification, the Chiang's Nationalist Government relied heavily on the support of warlords such as Ma Hushan , Yan Xishan , and Chang Hsueh-liang to exert control on

12360-611: Was also ranked first in the China Emerging City Rankings of the Economist Intelligence Unit , which assesses Chinese cities growth potential, in both 2021 and 2022. Hangzhou ranks 11th in the world and 6th in China (after Beijing , Shanghai , Hong Kong , Shenzhen and Guangzhou ) in terms of the number of billionaires according to the Hurun Global Rich List 2020. As of August 2023, Hangzhou has

12480-526: Was brutally suppressed with military force in what is now known as the February 28 Incident . Mainstream estimates of casualties range from 18,000 to 30,000, mainly Taiwanese elites. The 28 February Incident has had far-reaching effects on subsequent Taiwanese history . From 1945 to 1947, under United States mediation, especially through the Marshall Mission , the Nationalists and Communists agreed to start

12600-586: Was captured by the Jurchens in the Jingkang Incident of 1127. Emperor Gaozong moved to Nanjing, then to modern Shangqiu , then to Yangzhou in 1128, and finally to Hangzhou in 1129. Once the prospect of retaking northern China had diminished, buildings in Hangzhou were extended and renovated to become a permanent imperial capital. The imperial palace in Hangzhou, modest in size, was expanded in 1133 with new roofed alleyways, and in 1148 with an extension of

12720-553: Was during this time that rice was first cultivated in southeast China. Excavations have established that the jade -carving Liangzhu culture (named for its type site just northwest of Hangzhou) inhabited the area immediately around the present city around five thousand years ago. The first of Hangzhou's present neighborhoods to appear in written records was Yuhang , which probably preserves an old Baiyue name. In 222 BC, Emperor Qin Shi Huang established Qiantang County, located in

12840-491: Was endemic at all levels of government. The tension between Chiang's centralizing tendencies and the warlords who supported him led to friction and inconsistent direction. Even the KMT itself was disunified, with the pro-Chiang factions of the CC Clique , Political Study Clique, and fascist-inspired Blue Shirts Society opposed by a left-wing faction under Wang Jingwei and a right-wing faction influenced by Hu Hanmin . To control

12960-515: Was established and approved as a national development zone by the State Council in 1993. It covers an area of 104.7 km (40.4 sq mi). Encouraged industries include electronic information, biological medicine, machinery and household appliances manufacturing, and food processing. Hangzhou Export Processing Zone was established on April 27, 2000, upon approval of the State Council. It

13080-427: Was established. Hangzhou's economy has rapidly developed since its opening up in 1992. It is an industrial city with many diverse sectors such as light industry, agriculture, and textiles. It is considered an important manufacturing base and logistics hub for coastal China. Additionally, the city is an e-commerce and technology hub. The 2001 GDP of Hangzhou was RMB 156.8 billion, which ranked second among all of

13200-488: Was established. On March 12, 2001, Xiaoshan and Yuhang, formerly two county-level cities under the administration of Hangzhou prefecture-level city , were re-organized as two districts. On December 13, 2014, and in July 2017, Fuyang and Lin'an, formerly two county-level cities under the administration of Hangzhou prefecture-level city , were re-organized as two districts. On April 9, 2021, Linping District and Qiantang District

13320-717: Was in the Kuomintang Hebei Government and had a post in the Northeast Government Affairs Committee, and the Peking Government Affairs Committee and other important posts. However, he retired to Shanghai in 1935. After the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1937, the Imperial Japanese Army quickly overran North China , and the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters authorized the creation of

13440-421: Was one of the first zones and the only one in Zhejiang Province to be approved by the government. Its total planned area is 2.92 km (1.13 sq mi). It is located close to Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport and Hangzhou Port. Hangzhou Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone was set up with approval from the State Council as a state-level high-tech Industrial Development Zone in March 1991. The HHTZ

13560-425: Was owned by the government. Following the war with Japan, Chiang acquired Taiwan from Japan and renewed his struggle with the Communists. However, the corruption of the KMT, as well as hyperinflation as a result of trying to fight the civil war, resulted in mass unrest throughout the Republic and sympathy for the communists. Nearly all studies of the collapse of the Nationalist government identify hyperinflation as

13680-570: Was seen as the third and final stage of Kuomintang reconstruction of China. Chiang Kai-shek was also elected as the 1st President of the Republic of China under the constitution by the National Assembly in 1948, with Li Zongren being elected as vice-president. The Nationalist Government was abolished on 20 May 1948, after the Government of the Republic of China was established with the presidential inauguration of Chiang. The CCP, though invited to

13800-656: Was sent to France in 1913. On his return, by orders of Duan Qirui he helped establish the Bank of China , and became its president from July 1917. He served as minister of finance under the Beiyang Government from December 1917 to March 1918. In December 1918, he was the only representative of the Beiyang Government to attend a meeting with the Nanjing Government in an attempt to reunify China. He served as Minister of Finance again from July–August 1923 under

13920-519: Was so enormous that no man could form a just estimate thereof". Polo's account greatly exaggerates the city's size, although it has been argued that the "hundred miles" of walls would be plausible if Chinese miles were intended instead of Italian ones and that the "12,000 stone bridges" might have been a copyist error born from the city's 12 gates. In the 14th century, the Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta arrived; his later account concurred that al-Khansā

14040-514: Was the "stronghold" of Islam in Zhejiang province, containing multiple mosques, compared to his small congregation of around 30 families in Ningbo for his mosque. Within the city of Hangzhou are two notable mosques: New Hangzhou Great Mosque and the Phoenix Mosque . As late as the latter part of the 16th and early 17th centuries, the city was an important center of Chinese Jewry , and may have been

14160-540: Was the Military Arm of the Kuomintang (KMT) from 1925 until 1947, as well as the national army of the Republic of China during the KMT's period of party rule beginning in 1928. Originally organized with Soviet aid as a means for the KMT to unify China against warlordism , the National Revolutionary Army fought major engagements in the Northern Expedition against the Chinese Beiyang Army warlords , in

14280-482: Was the process of conscription. This was a deadly affair in which men were kidnapped for the army, rounded up indiscriminately by press-gangs or army units among those on the roads or in the towns and villages, or otherwise gathered together. Many men, some the very young and old, were killed resisting or trying to escape. Once collected, they would be roped or chained together and marched, with little food or water, long distances to camp. They often died or were killed along

14400-445: Was very open to foreign visitors, and several returned west describing Hangzhou—under the names Khinzai , Campsay , etc. —as one of the foremost cities in the world. The Venetian merchant Marco Polo supposedly visited Hangzhou in the late 13th century. In his book , he records that the city was "greater than any in the world" and that "the number and wealth of the merchants, and the amount of goods that passed through their hands,

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