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Backgrounder: Hangzhou, an international city

Xinhua, September 2, 2016 Adjust font size:

The 2016 Group of 20 summit will be held in China's eastern city of Hangzhou on Sept. 4-5.

The city, best known for its scenic West Lake, is one of the most international cities in the country. It has been visited by many world celebrities and witnessed some of the most important historic moments.

Following are some facts about Hangzhou:

-- Former U.S. President Richard Nixon called Hangzhou the birthplace of the Shanghai Communique, the historic document that paved the way for the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and the United States.

Accompanied by late Premier Zhou Enlai, Nixon visited Hangzhou on Feb. 26-27, 1972. The two sides discussed the final details of the Shanghai Communique. On Feb. 28, the document was issued in Shanghai.

Ten years later when Nixon visited Hangzhou again, he said Hangzhou was where the Shanghai Communique was born.

-- In "The Travels of Marco Polo," the Italian traveler called Hangzhou a "paradise on Earth."

Polo said Hangzhou, with its exquisitely constructed homes resplendent with detailed decorations, was the grandest and most magnificent city in the world.

Stores and large markets were abundant, and copious silk products were available as was the sartorial trend of the time, Marco Polo wrote.

-- Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore arrived in Hangzhou in April 1924. He visited the Lingyin Temple, which had been founded by an Indian monk, and went boating in the West Lake.

During the trip, Tagore remarked that some Indian cultural elements had been exported to China, and he hoped there would be more exchanges between the two countries.

-- British philosopher Bertrand Russell stayed in Hangzhou for two days in October 1920. In his autobiography, he waxed lyrical about the beauty of the West Lake. China even surpassed Italy, he wrote in the book.

-- Hangzhou, which was a hub for the production and trade of silk, tea and ceramics, was an important trading post along the ancient Maritime Silk Road.

The Maritime Silk Road dates back to 2,000 years ago, when ancient merchants sailed from China's eastern coast, passing Southeast Asia, India's southernmost and East Africa, all the way to the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, strengthening economic ties and cultural exchanges.

China is working to revive the ancient Maritime Silk Road and Hangzhou will have an important role to play. Endi