Hangzhou has a long history. Before you reach Hangzhou, you should roughly get some history information which definitely does help to you.
From Yuhang to Qiantang
Before Zhou Dynasty, Hangzhou belonged to Yangzhou area. During Three kingdoms, Jin Dynasty and Southern and Northern Dynasties, Hangzhou was Wuxing county of Yangzhou, Kingdom of Wu. Because of invasion by alien races, the royalty of Jin migrated to the South, which promoted the cultural and economic development of Qiantang River area. At that time, the West Lake had been called "Mingsheng Lake" and "Golden Lake". In 326(the first year of Xianhe, East Jin Dynasty), an Indian Buddhist, Huili, came to the foot of Feilai Peak and built Linyin Temple which is not only the oldest jungle architecture along the West Lake but also the oldest temple in southern Changjiang River
The first appearance of "Hangzhou"
After the foundation of Sui Dynasty, the county was abolished in 589 (the ninth year of Kaihuang, Sui Dynasty) and named as a state, the first appearance of Hangzhou. It administered six counties, including Qiantang, Yuhang, Fuyang, Yanguan, Yuqian and Wukang. The capital of the state was in Yuhang at first and then moved to Qiantang the next year. In Tang dynasty Hangzhou County was established and soon was changed mane as Yuhang County, with the centre in Qiangtang. In order to avoid as taboo of "Tang", in 689 Qiangtang changed its Chinese characters. During the second emperor of Tang Dynasty regime, it belonged to Jiangnan district. In 742, it changed name back as Yuhang County administered by East district of Jiangnan. In 758, it was named Hangzhou administered by West district of Chekiang, capital in Qiantang, controlled Qiantang, Yanguang, Fuyan, Xincheng, Yuhang, Lin'an Yuqian and Tangshan. With the enlarging of the scale of the city, it enlarged form the south of city along the river to present Wulin Gate. Thanks to the connection of the Great Canal, Hangzhou became a distributing center of goods, with gradual economic prosperity and increase of population.
The capital of Wuyue kingdom
During Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, Wuyue kingdom was content to retain sovereignty over a part of the country in the southern China building the capital Hangzhou. At that time, Hangzhou was called the West capital in Qiantang, which administered Qiantang, Yuhang, Anguo, Yuqian, Tangshan, Fuyang and Xincheng eight counties. During the 85 years reign of three generations, five emperors, with the toil of labor people, Hangzhou became the area of economic boom and cultural gathering. The emperors of Wuyue kingdom attached importance to irrigation works to bring the water of the West Lake into the Great Canal of the city. Along the Qiantang River, almost hundreds of miles of protecting dyke were built by the method of "wooden pegs surrounded by stones". Dragon Hill and Zhejiang two floodgates were constructed to prevent salt water flowing back, abate the danger of tides and enlarge land. They also employed labors to chisel the rock beach in the river, which aimed to make sure of smoothness of route and accelerate the transportation on the water of coastal area. They also employed thousands of lake cleaners to dredge up and protect the West Lake far away from float grass.
The Southern Song dynasty
After more than150 years of development of the Northern Song Dynasty, Hangzhou stepped into a flourishing era. In the third year of Jianyan, the Southern Song dynasty (1129), the emperor built a residence in Hangzhou, promoted as Lin'an Mansion. Forced to flee before the invading Jurched, the Imperial court under the rule of the pusillanimous Emperor Gaozong (1107-1187) moved its capital southwards from Kaifeng to Hangzhou. The economy and social productive forces were developing rapidly.
Before liberation
In the first year of Republic of China (1912), Hangzhou Prefecture was abolished and the original Qiantang and Renhe were united named as Hang County. Until 1927, the sixteenth year of Republic of China, Hangzhou was officially established, directly under Zhejiang Province. Since then, Hangzhou was divided into eight districts in urban district. From 1909~1914, Shanghai-Hangzhou railway and Hangzhou-Ningbo railway were finished in succession; the 1453 meters-long Qiantang River Bridge were finished in 1937; after the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan in 1945, the Japanese Concessions were taken back.
From newborn to flourish
In the next 100 years after Opium War, people were living on the edge of starvation. Hangzhou had been in disrepair for a long time. Many feature spot were broken and some of them had been wastelands. Until May 3rd, 1949, Hangzhou welcomed its reborn.After 1950s, the regions of Hangzhou have changed a lot. The original names of the eight regions were respectively changed as: Shangcheng, Xiacheng, Jianggan, Xihu, Genshan, Gongshu, Jianqiao; the regions at county level are: Xiaoshan, Yuhang, Lin'an, Jiande, Fuyang, Tonglu, Chun'an.
For the past 50 years, Hangzhou has experienced a great change. The present Hangzhou is one of the main tourist cities established by State Department. It has not only rich natural and tourist resources, but also enormous technological potential. What's more, for tourists, the most attraction is her abundant sightseeing resources. Above all, Hangzhou is worthy of the name of "Paradise on Earth".
