Hangzhou (杭州 Hang2 zhou1) is a sub-provincial city in China, and the capital of Zhejiang province. Located 180 km west of Shanghai, the population in the city proper is now 1.75 million. In China, the town is well known for its beautiful scenery, with the West Lake (Xi Hu) as the most noteworthy location.
Considered one of the cradles of Chinese civilization, the city of Hangzhou was founded about 2200 years ago, and was at one time capital of China.
It was the capital of the Wu Yue Kingdom (904-978), during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period.
Hangzhou was a capital of the Southern Song with the population of over 1.5 million, a center of trade and entertainment and a home to the main branches of the civil service. The city used to be a port until middle Ming Dynasty when its harbour was slowly silted up by sediments. And Hangzhou was liberated by Chiang Kai-shek during the 1911 revolution which overthrew the Qing Dynasty, China's last dynasty's rule. Hangzhou's industries have traditionally been textile, silk and machinery, but electronics and other light industries are developing, especially since the start of the new open economy in 1992.
Hangzhou is located at the southern end of the Grand Canal of China.
13 cities, counties and districts at county level are under the direct jurisdiction of Hangzhou: