Hangzhou Tales

By+Yuan+Yuan

Lou Youming has lived her whole life close to the West Lake in the center of Hangzhou， east Chinas Zhejiang Province.

The community where the 71-year-old resides， named Si Xinfang， is located just 700 meters from the lake. A cluster of two-story Chinese-style buildings， the community has witnessed the large number of changes that Hangzhou has undergone during the past century.

“All my life memories are connected with this community，” Lou told Beijing Review.“I had a very happy childhood here， but in recent decades， this place had become dirty and messy.”

“The beautiful tranquility of the old town in the past had gradually been covered with vendors cries and various food odors， especially in the morning，” Lou said. “People in the neighborhood used to have tea together in the old days， but since more and more people had started doing business here， we hadnt been able to rest well for quite some years.”

Apart from this， the old houses could not be fitted with modern toilets due to the initial design of their plumbing. “The houses were too old to support modern living，” said Lou. “We love this place of course， but we prefer to live in modern apartments.”

Given this situation， the government decided to give a facelift to the community. Work to renovate the area started in 2009 and has picked up pace since December 2015， when Hangzhou was declared host city of the 2016 G20 Summit. The event will take place on September 4-5， and is the first ever G20 summit to be held in China.

According to the Hangzhou Government， before the renovation， the areas sanitary conditions declined mostly as a result of food vendors flocking to the area， some of which were unlicensed. Besides the mess， the dilapidated century-old houses also concerned the local authorities.

Since the renovation project， the unlicensed food vendors have been cleared out， and local residents can now move into modern apartments in the same district.

The whole community will be revived in a way that preserves history， so that the area can also become a new tourist destination.

Lou expects to receive a 60-squaremeter apartment， over 3 times larger than her current 16-square-meter abode.

“What I will miss most will be the lovely times we neighbors shared tea together，”Lou said. “But， we will definitely come back often after we move out， and tell the story of this community to visitors.”

Lou is now a volunteer for the G20 Summit. “Many of my neighbors have become volunteers， and were all very happy that the G20 Summit is going to be held here，” she said.

Love for the city

“There are about 760，000 volunteers now in Hangzhou for the G20 Summit，” said Zhang Hongming， Mayor of Hangzhou， at a press briefing on May 25. “Most of them are local residents， and you can feel that their love for the city comes from the bottom of their hearts.”

One of the official promo videos for the Hangzhou G20 Summit， Time-Portrayed Hangzhou， was made by Cheng Fang and Cheng Xiao， who used to work at Hangzhou TV Station. They started capturing city scenes five years ago and havent stopped since.

“Modern prosperity and a historic aura mix elegantly in Hangzhou，” said Cheng Fang. “We dont just record the city， we feel it with our cameras.”

The video， composed of around 18，000 images selected from approximately 90，000 that the duo has shot over the past five years， depicts the urban landscape and its development using time-lapse photography.

“Five years are not long， especially for Hangzhou， a city with more than 4，000 years of history，” Cheng Fang said. “But， we will keep recording the citys beauty in the following years.”

Cheng Fang and Cheng Xiaos pictures have now been made into postcards to be given as gifts to guests during G20 Summit.

“Many Hangzhou residents are making efforts to show how wonderful the city is，” said Zhao Yide， Party Secretary of the Hangzhou Committee of the Communist Party of China， at a press conference on May 27. “During the G20 Summit， everybody in Hangzhou is a host.”

Hangzhous history， as Cheng Fang mentioned， is long and rich. The Grand Canal， built during the Sui Dynasty （581–618）， runs from Hangzhou all the way up to Beijing.

Included on the UNESCOs World Heritage List in June 2014， the canal still flows， and what remains from the glory and glamor of the Grand Canals heyday—bridges， levees， docks， piers， storehouses， and the canal banks—has been developed into a cultural center featuring bookstores， art galleries and museums.

One such museum， the Workmanship Demonstration Pavilion， a renovated factory in what is now called the West Gongchen Bridge Historic Area， is a large live-demonstration space for the highlights of traditional Chinese crafts.

The pavilion boasts modern， welldesigned displays on carving， ceramics， embroidery， weaving， fans， and umbrellas. Visitors are invited to draw on fans and decorate their own umbrellas， and they can also meet and talk with crafts-people.

“Im happy to see a lot of young people here， which is very encouraging for us craftsmen，” said Li Jinfeng from southeast Chinas Fujian Province， who was displaying the craft of making statues in Te-hua Porcelain， a type of ceramic made from white clay that comes from Dehua， a small town in Quanzhou City of Fujian.

Li visited Hangzhou as a member of a touring exhibition involving hundreds of Chinese crafts-people， which stopped in Hangzhou for two days.

“The passing down of precious Chinese handicraft skills will rely mainly on young generations，” 38-year-old Li told Beijing Review. “In Hangzhou， I can feel the enthusiasm that young people show for old skills that are demonstrated in a very appealing and fun way. Its really cool.”

Nostalgic design

Meng Fanhao， an architect originally from Shenyang， northeast Chinas Liaoning Province， settled in Hangzhou a few years ago.

“The city is like a jade stone in many ways， but its also like a diamond with many glittering facets，” Meng said. As Creative Director of the Hangzhou-based Greenton Architectural Design Co.， Meng is now in charge of designing the renovation of Dongziguan Village on the outskirts of the city.

“Instead of totally renovating the village into a new and modern one， were going to maintain the original flavor or uniqueness of the village， which keeps it as it was， and combine it with the convenience of modern life.”

The design philosophy is not only embodied in the houses appearance—gray tiles and gable roofs—but also in the way communication is facilitated； the front gates of neighboring houses face one another， and car parking spaces are located between blocks of houses.

“We wont paint the walls white， although it might look pretty new，” Meng said. “We will keep the gray color， as it has formed naturally with time. Hangzhou is more like a Chinese ink painting， with a subtle and lingering aura that you can only feel with the heart.”

Meng has also avoided incorporating underground car parking into the design， as it would change the villages structure.“Hangzhous villages are very impressive， and Im sure visitors wont be disappointed，”he said.

Zhou Yanding， a villager in Hangzhous Huanxi Village， has proved the popularity of Hangzhous villages with a hostel which he established by renovating his 110-year-old house.

“In recent years， many tourists started coming to Huanxi Village， so I thought about doing this kind of business，” Zhou said. He spent over 200，000 yuan （$30，769） on turning his home into a 10-bedroom hostel， which charges 100 yuan （$15） per room with breakfast included.

Now， the hostel generates a monthly income of around 5，000 yuan （$769）， and with the G20 Summit approaching， Zhou is expecting to receive even more guests than usual.

In Hangzhous Dipu Village， local Shentu Fang went even further. In 2015， she rented 14 pigsties in the village and transformed them into cafes.

“Before， we only provided local agricultural produce to city people who traveled to the villages，” Shentu said. “I think we need to explore more options， showing a more modern and fashionable village to guests.”

“I was astonished to hear that these cafes used to be pigsties，” said Liu Chuanxu， a visitor from Shanghai. “Its lovely here， and they have all the desserts and good coffee that we can get in Shanghai. Im going to bring more friends here.”

Innovation incubator

If Hangzhous scenery is an ink painting， the citys business environment and its entrepreneurs are more like an oil painting that was created with heavy and bright strokes by Chinas business industry.

Alibaba， Chinas largest B2B online trading platform， has its headquarters in Hangzhou， and the groups president， Hangzhou local Jack Ma， chose “make it easy to do business anywhere” as the slogan of his corporation.

“Many famous businessmen in China come from Zhejiang Province，” said Mayor Zhang. “Hangzhou， as the capital city of Zhejiang， is of no exception.”

Originally from the suburbs of Hangzhou， entrepreneur Chen Shuitian has been running a café named Fleurdeli close to West Lake for the past seven years.

“I rented a courtyard for 10 years and started my business here in 2009，” Chen said. “In three years， the startup costs were covered， and I started to make money.”

The café is popular among French people living in Hangzhou， as it serves mainly French-style food. For the G20 Summit， he designed a series of biscuits decorated with scenes from Hangzhou and the G20 logo.

Huang Ying works in a startup company， Let Me Help You， in Dream Town， a complex dedicated to fostering startups and innovation.

For over a year， Huang has been living in the U+ Apartment Building， which is designed specifically to host local， young startups.

“More than 200 people live in the same building， and were all young. Apartments are available for people under 35 years old，” Huang told Beijing Review. “The ground floor is an open area with a library， bar， and performing stage. After work， we always gather together， chatting and having fun. Its not possible to find such a place anywhere else.”

“I love Hangzhou a lot， and I believe the business future here is very promising，”Huang said.