Roger Bradshaw, from the United States

I first went to Hangzhou almost 20 years ago and I stayed at a wonderful old Western-style hotel on the lake and had a great time just in it, but the lake was surrounded by some run-down amusement park rides and so on which detracted from it. The second time I went was about 10 years ago as a judge for a 21st Century Weekly English speaking contest and the place still looked interesting. Now, what I see from the recent photos we’ve been using for the G20 articles is that the city is vastly changed, modernized, and built up and that the run-down attractions around the lake are long gone and the lake area is more pristine and looks more attractive.  

A night view of Hangzhou. [Photo by Hu Jian]