You might not be able to go on a real holiday - but today we take a little audio trip to the city of Hangzhou, Zhejiang... famed across the millennia for its beautiful bay, canals, and the famous West Lake.

This is no ordinary tourist get-away, though, because we'll be skipping across time, looking at the highlights of its early history.

Time Period Covered:ca. 5,000 BCE- ca. 960 CE

Major Sources:Cotterell, Arthur. The Imperial Capitals of China – An Inside View of the Celestial Empire.Giles, Lionel (tr.) Sun Tzu’s The Art of War.Loewe, Michael and Edward L. Shaughnessey. The Cambridge History of Ancient China.Mote, F.W. Imperial China.(900-1800).Rossabi, Morris. China Among Equals: the Middle Kingdom and its Neighbors, 10th-14th centuries.Schmidt, J. D. Within the Human Realm: The Poetry of Huang Zunxian, 1848-1905.Yan, Zi. Famous Temples in China.

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