New Hangzhou on Qiantang River

Qiantang River is the mother river of Zhejiang Province. The most picturesque part of the river， from Fuyang up to Tonglu， has inspired numerous poets and essayists and painters since very ancient times. Today， the river traverses the eleven administrative parts of Great Hangzhou including districts， counties and county-level cities. In this section of the river are 22 urban centers， including 15 that are brand new.

Over the past decade， the development of the Hangzhou section of Qiantang River has been gaining great momentum. In conformity to an overall development strategy， Hangzhou now looks eastward for urban expansion and westward for more and better tourism growth. The eastward expansion points to the lands along and across the Qiantang River. This new strategy indicates that Hangzhou has been turning from the age of the West Lake to the age of Qiantang River.

Qianjiang New City has been taking shape over the past ten years. The development of a 15.8-km2 area for the first phase has been completed. A blueprint for a 5.16-km2 expansion zone and 20-some projects in the heart of the new urban center has been formulated. Statistics show that the overall investment into the Qianjiang New City has amounted to 97.8 billion yuan， including 29 billion from the government and 68.8 billion from social sectors. The total developed area amounts to 10 million square meters.

There have been landmark buildings along the river and there will be more mushrooming. The Hangzhou Grand Theater is one of them. The 50，000-m2 glass structure houses a 1，600-seat theater， a 600-seat concert hall and a 400-seat lecture hall. Outside the structure is an outdoor theater. Beside the theater towers the Hangzhou International Conference Center. The huge landmark provides a complete range of functions.

Bolang Culture City is a huge two-storied structure that measures 130，000 square meters， equal to 700 football pitches. The underground part houses boutique shops， high-end department stores， restaurants， museums， cinemas and a tourism center. The below the commercial center is a bus parking lot and a subway station.

Zhejiang Fortune Center， Hangzhou MIXC， Raffles City are three gigantic high-end commercial estate development projects in the Qianjiang New City. The Fortune Center is composed of the 212-meter-tall West Tower and the 148-meter-tall East Tower. The two sky-scrapers are both equipped with a helicopter pad. Hangzhou MIXC is developed by China Resources (Holding) Ltd and Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd and it is now operational and enjoys brisk business. Raffles City， which is to be completed in 2014， is an estate development project with Singaporean investment.

On the other side of the river and just across the Qianjiang New City is Qianjiang World City， another impressive new urban center scheduled to be a central business district for headquarters of big companies. In 2010， more than 50 high-rises in this zone were under construction. In three years， 60 high-rises will be ready.

An under-river tunnel will connect Qianjiang New City and Qianjiang World City. A car ride between the two centers takes about 7 minutes.

Qiantang River Museum will be constructed at the spot where Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and Qiantang River converge. On the venue now is a sightseeing tower. It will be rebuilt and converted into the museum. The 80-meter-tall tower will provide tourists a panoramic view of the river and the city. The museum will house Hangzhou Qiantang River Research Academy.

Qianjiang New City is by no means all business. It is interlaced with green belts and parks and squares which make the life there green and enjoyable. The grand theater plays the big part in the city’s showbiz glamour and glitz. Troupes at home and abroad have staged grand shows at the theater. Hangzhou Library is the largest public library in the city and no other library in China has more space made available to the general public. The city is now home to a lot of sculptures. In 2008 an international sculpture festival was held in the Qianjiang New City. Fifty of the exhibits are now on long-term display at the Citizen Square. Across the urban area are many new-fangled or memorial sculptures in honor of Hangzhou’s profound cultural heritages.

The new urban center has hosted a lot of high-profile festivals of national and even international renown. In October every year， a firework gala is held over the Qiantang River. Against the cityscape of the ultra-modern high-rises are rainbow colors firing and exploding in the nightly sky.