An invitation to discover one of the Creative Cities of the UNESCO network linked to Milan, through its libraries, by a long relationship of collaboration and exchange.

City of great cultural and artisan tradition, Hangzhou, capital of the Chinese province of Zhejiang, is home to three sites recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site: the West Lake which, with its beauty, has over time given life to popular legends and myths and inspired artists and poets; the archaeological ruins of Liangzhu, defined as the "first city of China"; the Grand Canal, the oldest and longest artificial river in the world that connects Hangzhou to Beijing, the Yellow River with the Yangtze.

Since 2012, the city has entered the UNESCO network of Creative Cities, in the Crafts and Popular Art cluster, in recognition of its productive excellence, silk and tea first and foremost. But Hangzhou also has a literary tradition of great importance and has a public library and a city library system which contribute to the promotion of reading and the valorisation of local literary production, which includes legends and folklore stories which give us evocative images of the area and of its traditions.

Our Milan Library System has created, in collaboration with the Hangzhou public library, the exhibition "Hangzhou Feel”: you can find it on our website virtual section, while the Dergano-Bovisa library displays a selection of books, in the original language, on the traditions and folklore of the city.