Hangzhou boasts a long and glorious history and a flourishing culture. Ever since the late Neolithic Age， Hangzhou has developed its own distinct culture over several millennia， and absorbed the cream of the cultures of different areas， including those of the Liangzhu， the Wuyue， the Southern Song， the Ming and Qing. Known as the "Silk City" and "Paradise on Earth"， Hangzhou is a metropolis that stands for the advanced Chinese civilization. But in my mind， what impresses me most about Hangzhou is its innovative thinking and pioneering spirit.
　　It is at the end of 1953 that Mao Zedong， the founder of New China， made his first visit to Hangzhou. Mao stayed in the Liu Mansion by the West Lake for 77 days， overseeing the drawing up of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China. Thus Hangzhou performed the first movement of its innovation symphony by giving birth to the authoritative legal document of socialist governance.
　　Mao visited Hangzhou 53 times on business and inspection tours or for recuperation. As an ardent enthusiast for mountain-climbing， Mao mounted the various hills around the West Lake and composed many popular poems. His landscape poems are vivid in image and vigorous in writing; his political poems are passionate with abundant irony and sarcasm. The most famous is the one Reply to Comrade Guo Moruo composed on January 1st， 1963， in response to Guo Moruo's poem published in the Guangming Daily. It is beyond doubt that this poem infused fresh blood and new ideas into the innovative thinking of Hangzhou， an ancient city which twice served as the capital of the ancient kingdoms.