Hangzhou: The City Marco Polo Called Heaven | China Decoded

Seven hundred years ago Marco Polo wrote that the finest, most splendid city in the world was in China: Hangzhou — 'the City of Heaven'. He wasn't wrong. How a five-square-kilometre lake became the definition of paradise: the White Snake legend, Leifeng Pagoda, the poet-governors' causeways, Dragon Well tea, the Southern Song's million-person capital, the Grand Canal, silk, the Qiantang tidal bore, the bridge Mao Yisheng had to blow up, and the city that taught China to shop online. Every shot is real footage or a real photograph. Chapters: 0:00 Marco Polo's finest city 0:13 Heaven, according to China 0:25 West Lake from above 0:36 The White Snake legend 0:47 Leifeng Pagoda: 1924 1:00 The pagoda rebuilt 1:12 Bai Juyi's causeway 1:24 Su Dongpo's causeway 1:36 Dongpo pork 1:48 Three Pools Mirroring the Moon 2:02 Ten Scenes: summer lotus 2:13 Broken Bridge 2:25 Baochu Pagoda 2:35 The tea hills 2:46 Longjing: Dragon Well tea 2:59 Roasting by hand 3:10 The emperor's eighteen bushes 3:20 How Hangzhou drinks 3:31 1138: Southern Song capital 3:43 The largest city on Earth 3:55 Marco Polo's 'City of Heaven' 4:09 The Grand Canal 4:25 The canal still works 4:35 Silk capital 4:47 One cocoon, one kilometre 4:59 China National Silk Museum 5:09 Lingyin Temple, 328 AD 5:22 Feilai Feng carvings 5:33 The Qiantang tidal bore 5:46 The bore climbs the road 5:57 Six Harmonies Pagoda 6:09 1937: the bridge he blew up 6:26 After 1978: code 6:37 Jack Ma's apartment 6:50 Singles' Day 7:02 The QR-code city 7:15 Qianjiang New City light show 7:24 The Asian Games lotus 7:36 The metro underneath 7:45 West Lake fish in vinegar gravy 8:00 Longjing shrimp & noodles 8:11 Hefang Street 8:21 The lake cruise 8:31 Evening on the lake 8:41 Wushan hill view 8:53 The proverb was modest 9:06 Come and see Footage: Pixabay (free license) + Wikimedia Commons (CC, files listed below). Music: original score generated locally with ACE-Step. Narration: AI-generated (Edge TTS). Attribution (all files on commons.wikimedia.org): • Aerial panorama of West Lake and its surrounding mountains. December 2023 — Wanderingchina (CC BY 4.0) • Legend of the White Snake in Beijing Opera — Shizhao (CC BY 3.0) • Leifeng Pagoda taken before 1924 01 — 西德尼·戴维·甘博（Sidney D. Gamble） (CC0) • Leifeng Pagoda at Dusk — Yinweichen (CC BY-SA 4.0) • Huanglong & Broken Bridge - Hangzhou City & West Lake w Bai Causeway — User:CatOnMars (CC BY 4.0) • Su Causeway, West Lake — 钉钉 (CC BY-SA 4.0) • Dongpo pork (a Hangzhou dish) — Pauloleong2002 (CC BY-SA 4.0) • Three Pools Mirroring the Moon 01 2020-04 — 猫猫的日记本 (CC BY-SA 4.0) • Huanglong & Broken Bridge - Hangzhou City & West Lake near Broken Bridge — User:CatOnMars (CC BY 4.0) • Baochu Pagoda with Hangzhou Skyline — Yinweichen (CC BY-SA 4.0) • Tea-grower-hangzhou — JalalV (Public domain) • Tea plantations in Longjing, Hangzhou — Wishva de Silva (CC BY-SA 3.0) • Southern Song Imperial Street, Hangzhou — 钉钉 (CC BY-SA 4.0) • City God Temple in Hangzhou, 1907 — Itō Chūta (Public domain) • Marco Polo Mosaic from Palazzo Tursi — Salviati (Public domain) • Gongchen Bridge 02 2013-07 — 猫猫的日记本 (CC BY-SA 3.0) • Wulinmen, Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal — Leiem (CC BY-SA 4.0) • China Silk Museum, 2017-11-12 01 — Siyuwj (CC BY-SA 4.0) • Lingyin Temple, Hangzhou 20161003 — Tyg728 (CC BY-SA 4.0) • 20090608 Hangzhou Feilai Feng 9060 — Jakub Hałun (CC BY-SA 3.0) • 20190916钱江潮通过城市阳台 — MasaneMiyaPA (CC BY-SA 4.0) • 20240921钱江潮冲上之江路 — MasaneMiyaPA (CC BY-SA 4.0) • Liuhe Pagoda, Hangzhou — 钉钉 (CC BY-SA 4.0) • Qiantang River Bridge 01 — Huandy618 (CC BY-SA 3.0) • Ma Yun (2017-10-19) — Пресс-служба Президента Российской Федерации (CC BY 4.0) • Light show in Qianjiang New City 04 — Y Chen (CC BY-SA 4.0) • Main Stadium, Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center, 2019-09-10 01 — Siyuwj (CC BY-SA 4.0) • 杭州地铁1号线列车离开乔司站向乔司南驶去IMG 0154 — MasaneMiyaPA (CC BY-SA 4.0) • West Lake Fish in Vinegar Gravy — Zheng Zhou (CC BY-SA 4.0) • Hefang Street, Hangzhou — 钉钉 (CC BY-SA 4.0) • West Lake at night in Hangzhou — Joaquín Salido (CC BY-SA 4.0) • Westlake seen from City God Pavilion, Hangzhou — 钉钉 (CC BY-SA 4.0) • Hangzhou Skyline on West Lake — Yinweichen (CC BY-SA 4.0)