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Huge Exposition Planned in Hangzhou
The capital of East China's Zhejiang Province this fall will hold its biggest international fair ever since its inception later.
The month-long activity named the "West Lake Exposition 2000," which is sponsored by the National Tourism Administration, the State Internal Trade Bureau and the Hangzhou municipal government is scheduled to be held from October 20 to November 20. Its purpose is to further expand the city's popularity in the international community not only as a great tourist city but also as one of the best cities in China to live in and invest in, said Wu Yingqiang, director of the municipal government's Information Office.
Although still three months away, Hangzhou is already fully prepared for the coming grand fair, he said.
The organizers are offering 35 key projects, including exhibitions on tea and silk products, handicrafts and traditional Chinese paintings, large-scale-conventions on city environment protection and residential housing development, and many other international seminars on different types of high technology.
During the fair, Wu said that a series of tourism activities will also be planned in an effort to lead visitors to more scenic attractions throughout the province.
Liu Wanhua, a fair organizer, is optimistic about the exposition. "In 1929, Hangzhou held its first West Lake Exposition," he said.
More than 2,000 visitors at home and abroad attended the 137-day fair at that time, said Liu.
"It was recorded in history as China's greatest and most successful expositions held in the early 20th century," he said.
"Seventy years later, Hangzhou is also the most qualified for another grand occasion," said the organizer.
With a population of more than 6 million, the city boasts a US$4,171 per capita gross domestic products for urban residents, the highest of all provincial capital cities in the mainland.
With the help of the introduction of high technology, its economy is growing at an annual average rate of 18.1 per cent.
Widely known as one of the seven ancient capitals in China with a history of 4,700 years, Hangzhou received more than 23 million foreign and domestic travellers last year, and brought in more than US$237 million in foreign exchange earnings to the city.
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