Living up to 'heaven above, Hangzhou below'

A city's development is not judged by the per capita GDP but by the quality of its residents' life and their sense of happiness and satisfaction. That's how Hangzhou Party Secretary Wang Guoping described the health and development of a city yesterday.

Hangzhou began a campaign of branding itself as a "City of Quality Life" and developing its tourism industry to befit its image as "heaven on Earth". Hangzhou has made "quality life" its brand slogan and set for itself a long-term goal of development, Wang told journalists and editors from the Asia News Network (ANN).

Hangzhou is the capital of Zhejiang Province and is one of the most developed cities in East China. It has not been blessed with natural resources, but landmarks like the West Lake make it a tourist's paradise. In fact, the West Lake is its brand icon. "We have the most beautiful natural scenery among all cities with a rich cultural heritage and we are the richest heritage-wise among all cities famous for their natural beauty," Wang said.