Hangzhou’s West Lake, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is so influential in Chinese culture that many Chinese towns have built their own replicas. Well-known in Japan and Korea, the city was not revealed to the west until Marco Polo remarked, “without doubt the finest and most splendid city in the world.” Hangzhou was the capital of China from 1127, during the southern Song dynasty, until the Mongol invasion of 1276. One of the most celebrated periods in Chinese civilization, Hangzhou became the largest and most cosmopolitan city in the world, a “paradise on earth” for about 1 million residents. So many Buddhist temples were built that it became known as “temple country”. It was an era of great commerce and innovation; a cultural highpoint.

Hangzhou’s heritage has a strong bearing on the modern city of today. This capital of Zhejiang province, one of China’s wealthiest, famed for intelligence and savvy business dealings, Hangzhou has now made a name for itself as an emerging technology hub. It is home to global e-commerce giant Alibaba and drinks company, Wahaha. And yet, despite the pace of modern life or maybe because of it, locals still enjoy a stroll or a perfect pour of local Longjing tea along the shoreline as a favoured past time.