Located in a historic district along the Hangzhou Canal, recently, newly built "riverside book cafes" opened to the public free of charge.
On Sept. 13, two tourists take photos on the Broken Bridge on the West Lakes. According to statistics compiled by a bike rental service company based in Hangzhou, the number of daily individual rentals has reached 250, 000. The service has helped reduce the carbon emissions by 35,000 tons per year. On May 1, 2008, Hangzhou took the lead in the country with its public bicycle rental system. At present, there are more than 2,400 pubic bicycle rental service stations and more than 600,000 bikes available for rent in Hangzhou.
West Lake always buzzes with tourists and citizens each year between June and September when the lotus flowers planted in the lake are in full bloom.
The capital of Zhejiang province, in the Yangtze River Delta and has been one of China's most prosperous cities for nearly a millennium and over the years has acquired the tag, "Oriental city of leisure". So, it seemed a fairly obvious place to hold a global exhibition on leisure activities.