There are more and more foreigners coming to Hangzhou, attracted by descriptions of 'the most beautiful lake in China.' I have met many foreigners who hadn't even heard of Hangzhou before coming to China but after arriving, all were impressed with how beautiful and green the city is.

As with many places in China they realize the city probably has a history of hundreds of years if not thousands. However few know that Hangzhou was actually one of the ancient capitals of China. Although the Ming and Qing dynasties, and even the Han and Yuan, are well-known in the West, few people have heard of the Song Dynasty.

Yes, Marco Polo did say that Hangzhou is 'the greatest and noblest city in the world' but unfortunately called the city by another name, not 'Hangzhou'. With the city having such a glorious past I've always thought it was a shame that most foreigners don’t know about this, therefore I was pleased to read about the plan to renovate Zhongshan Street. This of course was the ancient imperial street and a place worthy of being highlighted.

Actually, it was a foreign friend who'd recently moved to Hangzhou who gave me a call and told me excitedly about this 'ancient street' called the Song Dynasty Imperial Street. I'd been to Zhongshan Street many times but not recently. The next evening, when walking down the newly renovated area, I felt quite strange as a few things seemed familiar but I was just too amazed at how different the area looked. My friend hadn't seen how the street was before and I struggled to explain how much had changed.

After a few minutes’ walk we arrived at one site I recognized, Phoenix Mosque, but again the surrounding area was unrecognizable. I was glad that further on there was an exhibition explaining not only the renovation but also a little about the history of the Imperial Street in the Song Dynasty.

After learning a bit about Hangzhou's past my friend was really impressed, as he'd been to Beijing, Nanjing and Xi'an but didn't know about Hangzhou's history. At the exhibition I also saw lots of people reading the information as well as parents explaining things to their children. This made me realize that apart from foreigners, there are also many Chinese people who need to be made aware of this important part of history.

The renovation of the area is really beautiful and in the future it could even be a new attraction to rival Qing Hefang Street. It has also become a very pleasant place to walk and I will be taking friends there again soon.

By Tony Parker (from England)