The ongoing Hangzhou International Day hosts a series of activities, including many seminars with local Hangzhou professors and international guests.

On April 21, Xu Min, a professor from Zhejiang University met guests from France, German, Korea, India, Czech and Algeria at the Former Residence of Hu Xueyan, one of the richest and most famous businessmen of the Qing Dynasty.

They talked about the protection of historical architecture—while drinking first-class green tea. Xu had lived in their neighborhood for more than forty years and was very fond of the place of her childhood. She also witnessed the changes happening to this region and the effort made by the government to protect its heritage.

X: Xu Min  G：Guest

X: My name is Xu Min, I am a teacher from Zhejiang University, and I am a native Hangzhou citizen. If you have any questions about Hangzhou, please feel free to ask me. In fact, I was born at a place very close to the home of Hu Xueyan. I stayed in this area for 40 years. So the street we walked along this morning was the place I played with a lot with my friends when I was very young. On the old street, there is a wide variety of yummy food and scrumptious snacks made by local people; it is a wonderful place to enjoy delicious food. However, in recent years some of these shops were closed down—but now they are open to the public again. So when you go there, you can still enjoy the food. This is the first time for about ten of you to come to Hangzhou. Please use one sentence to describe your first trip to Hangzhou.

G: I think the government has done a wonderful job to preserve the old architecture.

G: This is a very beautiful place and I wish to stay a long time.

G: Compared to Shanghai, Hangzhou is very quiet and I feel more comfortable here.

X: Please have a sip of the Dragon Well green tea which will be officially listed by UNESCO as an element of world cultural heritage this year. In August this year, the World Cultural Heritage Committee will come to Hangzhou for an inspection. Please drink as much as possible, since the tea will be much more expensive after it becomes world cultural heritage. (Laughs)

G: How can I tell the quality of green tea?

X: We can define the quality of green tea from four different indicators: first, the color—the lighter the better. A tender green means more nutrition, including Vitamin A, Vitamin C, tea polyphenol, which are contained in the tea leaves that are healthier for people. Second, we look at the size of the tea leaves—the smaller the better. Thirdly, the flavor of the tea; and lastly, the smell of the tea. For those who have been to Hangzhou before, which is your favorite site?

G: West Lake, but I would like to come to this place (Hu Xueyan’s former residence) more often. It is much quieter here. This is my first time here.

X: Guests from all over the world, what we saw today is the work done by the local government to protect the history and culture of this city for our generation and generations afterwards. Your governments also did a great job to preserve the history and culture of your countries. Now is the time for us to communicate with each other. So would you please recommend a place of historical interest in your country?

G: I recommend Versailles for France.

X: I have been to Versailles twice and I love it very much.

G: If you go to my country, Algeria, you should go to the Sahara.

X: I will definitely go there next time.