Doors now open at citizen’s leisure festival

The 20th West Lake Expo Citizen Leisure Festival has offered a multitude of activities for natives and foreigners living in Hangzhou.

As a core event of this year’s West Lake International Expo, the five-day festival closed on Tuesday at the Xixi Paradise complex.

The highlights of the festival included performances by international artists, a photography exhibition, a cooking competition, color run (also known as the happiest 5k on the planet), a Chinese food fair and traditional craftsmanship showcase.

Artists from nine “Belt and Road” Initiative countries, and China’s Guizhou, Hubei and Qinghai provinces and Xinjiang Uygur and Tibet autonomous regions, performed ethnic song and dance. They were staged at seven venues including Fuyang, Yuhang and Xiaoshan districts, and the downtown Wulin Square and Yongjin Square.

In the display areas visitors tried authentic street food from Taiwan, Zhejiang and the northeastern provinces of China. Craftsmen showcased their handcrafted bamboo baskets, scissors, silver ornaments and hand embroidery. These skilled artisans also gave a live demonstration of how their crafts are produced.

The main venue of the festival, the Xixi Paradise complex, spans a total area of 15,000 square meters and is located in the west of Hangzhou next to the Xixi Wetland Park. The complex owns China’s first national wetland museum, a commercial street and some of the best resort hotels in the world.