In China we find marvelous places that dazzle for its scale and monumentality: the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and the landscape of Guilin are just some known examples. However, there is another type of cultural asset, who’s beauty does not reveal itself immediately but instead it grows on us, like when we learn to enjoy a cup of tea, since it is not part of our everyday customs, that first time could be a bit disappointing, but over time we learn to enjoy all its taste subtleties, and it becomes something so necessary and exquisite like a fine cup of Colombian coffee. West Lake in the city of Hangzhou. The capital of Zhejiang province and one hour away by train from Shanghai, is another less well known place, yet it is one of the most attractive and unforgettable scenes in China. It is precisely in Hangzhou where the G20 Summit will take place this September, this text is an introduction to the city and an invitation to walk around West Lake.

"Xihu" as it is pronounced in Chinese, literally means West Lake. It is a freshwater lake that over millennia has been intervened and beautified by mankind. This apparent harmony between man and nature, it epitomizes eastern art and philosophy, placing "Xihu" at the heart of Chinese culture. Over time, its landscape became a model and inspiration for other garden designed in China, Japan and Korea.

With the city of Hangzhou on one side, hills and mountains adorned with pavilions and pagodas surround the remaining banks of the lake, turning each view into a postcard image. Around the extensive landscape of the lake we find: temples, bamboo forests, tea plantations, historic buildings and gardens that depending on the season of the year swap center stage. Within the lake there are artificial islands, causeways and tree line promenades. Everything is done with care, leaving space for hidden or undiscovered places.

If we have a picturesque view in front of our eyes, behind us we see delineated the prosperous and animated city of Hangzhou, whom Marco Polo in the 13 century called "the city of heaven", and "the most noble and best city of the world". Today Hangzhou together with Chengdu are considered the most pleasant cities to live in China. If in Colombia we say, "Cali is the branch of heaven", in China they say “Paradise in heaven; Suzhou and Hangzhou on earth”. Architecturally Hangzhou is not the same city of water canals and twelve thousand rock bridges that Marco Polo once described. Instead it is a modern city, a leader in technology where the gigantic e-commerce company Alibaba has its headquarters. Textiles and silk remain a vital industry, near the airport we find the huge textile distribution center of KeQiao, the biggest in China.

Lets go back to the lake and enjoy a peaceful boat ride, admire the lotus flowers and drink a small cup of green tea. By our side our guides are Bai Juyi and Su Dongpo, two of the dearest poets in China, both were governors in the city, 9 and 11 century respectively. Along their poetry, both went down in history as being socially responsible, criticizing measures by the government that were not favorable with the population. The most quoted poem by Su Dongpo about the lake is titled "Drinking by the lake from sun till rain", here is a translation by Lin Yutang that says:

The light of the water sparkles on a sunny day;

And misty mountains lend excitement to the rain.

I like to compare West Lake to "Miss West",

Pretty in a gay dress, and pretty in simple again.

Miss West, is one of the four beauties from the Chinese cultural tradition. There are popularly ten classic views of West Lake, each designates a specific site: "Three Ponds Mirroring the Moon", "Orioles Singing in the Willows", "Two Peaks Piercing the Clouds" and "Curved Yard and Lotus Pool in Summer" are but examples. To finish this literary paragraph, will mention the oral traditional story of "The legend of the White Snake", that takes place in West Lake. Tells the story of a serpent with special powers that falls in love with a man, she transforms into a beautiful woman, but her happiness is spoiled by a Taoist monk that wishes to reveal her secret. There are many versions, all using the architecture and landscape of West Lake as its background. The one with happy ending is the most popular, and has been adapted to film, television and theater.

With an area of 6.39 square kilometers, to cycle around the lake requires about an hour. According to a tourism study published recently, in 2013 the city welcomed 94.09 millions of Chinese tourists, spending 14.7 billion Yuan; the number of foreign tourists was 3.16 millions, that generated 2.16 billions of dollars to the city. If we compare these figures published by the City of Hangzhou, we will see actually that the amount spent was quite similar.

In 2011 West Lake was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Site, that same year I arrive to Hangzhou to study a doctorate degree at the prestigious China Academy of Art, with artist Qiu Zhijie as tutor. Qiu is an emblematic figure in contemporary Chinese art, prolific at both writing and making art. Some even compare him with Joseph Beuys for combining art practice, pedagogy and affirming that art is not only to be made for museums, instead art needs to permeate with everyday life.

Qiu believes that West Lake is one of the best public art works made in China. One of his teaching exercises for students is to think of "big projects", works of art that have the potential to extend from a semester homework, art projects that could require more than ones lifetime to achieve, having the potential to exist in perpetuity just like West Lake.

It was luck or perhaps fate that the scholarship from the Chinese Government sent me to Hangzhou. Studying next to West Lake has been an experience and also a starting point to better understand Chinese culture. Living close to it I was able to admire "Miss West" in all her facets, who depending on the season and time of day wears a different face. I like to see her in the morning when she wakes up with a white misty cloud over the freshwater; or when it rains and the lake turns into a wild sea; or at the end of the day when all around is lit up like a Christmas nativity scene and at that same time bats that in China are symbols of good luck, dance salsa above the lake.

It is very propitious that the G20 Summit will take place in Hangzhou, there is no better location to find calm, inspiration and freedom of spirit than West Lake. It was precisely in this city where the Colombian writer Jorge Zalamea wrote his classic essay for world peace: "At the inauguration in Beijing, October 2 of 1952, of the Asia and Pacific Rim Peace Conference, we are all friends. Our eyes might reflect the severity of the problems that we are to study ahead; but there is also in them an expression of good confidence knowing that one is not alone, that one light of friendship shines in hundreds of faces that only yesterday were all but unknown." That same light of friendship will shine again over West Lake.

Luis Cantillo

Colombian artist that graduated from China Art Academy in Hangzhou. His doctoral thesis "Trojan Horse: Chinese video art, practice and cultural agency(1996-2006)", will be published in December by Guanxi Fine Art Publisher.