Hangzhou, China Happiest City

East West, Hangzhou is the Best! In my eyes, Hangzhou is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Hangzhou has also ranked number one for the fifth consecutive year in the surveys concerning the happiness index among the cities in China. The people in Hangzhou experience high levels of happiness.

More Hangzhou Honors

•Awarded Best Residential Prize by the UN  •International Garden City awarded by the International Federation of Park and Recreation Administration  •National Best Tourist City awarded by the China National Tourism Administration and World Tourism Organization  •National Model City in Environmental Protection awarded by the Ministry of Environmental Protection  •City with the Best Security in China awarded by the Ministry of Public Security  •City with Best Economic Activity in China awarded by CCTV 

Hangzhou is well famous for its West Lake, a beautiful garden city

On the afternoon of December 31, 2010, I ascended the Leifeng Pagoda for an eye-bird's view of the West Lake. With combination of a traditional aesthetic style and modern architecture techniques, Leifeng Pagoda is now the best place to view the West Lake in its entirety.

Take the escalator to the base of Leifeng Pagoda

take the elevator to the top floor — Take the elevator to the top floor of the pagoda

Baoshu Pagoda and Broken Bridge — Baochu Pagoda and Broken Bridge Opposite the Leifeng Pagoda

On the West of the West Lake is the city proper — The City Proper is on the west of the West Lake

Su Casuseway cuts the west part of the West lake — The Su Causeway is the longest series of bridges crossing over Hangzhou's West Lake.

Huagang Viewing Fish Park — On the west is the View Fish at Huanggang Park, a peninsula projecting into the West Lake

The Jingci Temple perched on Nanping Hill is to the south of Leifeng Pagoda

Hangzhou is teemed with Chinese culture, one of the six ancient cities in China

Then I went to Hefang Street, a well known restored street in Southern Song Dynast(1127–1279) when Hangzhou served as its capital about 800 years ago.

direction — The Signs Pointing to Hefang Street

archway of hefang — The archway leading to Hefang Street, a well-designed old pedestrian street, which is the epitome of old Hangzhou.

main hefang 0 — Old Style Buildings in the Hefang Street

song dynasty building — Typical Two-storey Buildings in Old Hangzhou

huqingyutang — The famous Huqingyutang is also located on the street. Huqingyutang in Hangzhou is one of the two extremely famous traditional Chinese medicine stores in China, the other being Tongrentang in Beijing.

Hangzhou is developing fast, one of trendiest cities in China

No more a poor and shabby city 30 years ago, Hangzhou has been developing very fast and turned out to be the most fashionable cities in China. On the evening of Jan 01, 2010, I went to MIXC Mall, the largest mall in Hangzhou.

China's second MixC shopping mall now has opened its doors in Hangzhou. Much like its predecessor in Shenzhen, MixC Hangzhou boasts a world-class ice rink, a high-end supermarket, and boutiques by brands like LV, Coach, Fendi and Dior, but goes a step beyond with an IMAX cinema - the first in Hangzhou.

Mall 2 — Taking the elevators in the mall

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