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The great revival of a long dormant idea
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THE year 1929 was very significant in Hangzhou. The city hosted West Lake Expo, which was modeled after the World Expo hosted by Philadelphia in 1926.
In preparation for the event, the city built new buildings and railways while trains and trucks brought novel items like flush toilets. It was also the first time many of the city’s residents saw so many foreigners.
The governor of Zhejiang Province at the time, Zhang Jingjiang, wanted to use the expo as a promotional tour while also stimulating the domestic economy.
“Let’s boost competition, promote domestic goods, award industry and show the world our culture,” Zhang said about his West Lake Expo goals.
The 131-day event exhibited nearly 15 million items from home and abroad. It attracted about 20 million visitors.
Domestic goods were considered the best China had to offer. Another of Zhang’s ideas was to allow Chinese people to compare foreign and local products with the goal of inspiring Chinese to improve the quality of manufacturing.
The event was named after West Lake because the then government wanted “people to love products made in the country like they love West Lake.”
With less than eight months to prepare for the event, the city built 13 pavilions, one exclusively for foreign products, around West Lake. Branch offices of the West Lake Expo Organization Committee were set up in 75 cities and counties across China.
The event brought numerous “firsts” to Hangzhou. It was the first time many locals saw an airplane and air show. It was the first time a fireworks show was held at West Lake, the first time residents sent postcards and the first time many saw flush toilets.
Almost 1 million yuan (US$160,389) was spent on the first West Lake Expo, which generated about 500,000 yuan in revenue. However, the government balanced the books by selling the facilities after the event concluded.
Some of the pavilions are still used today including West Lake Expo Museum on Beishan Road. It served as the Industry Pavilion in 1929. Jiefang Road Department Store was used to display domestic goods back in 1927. It was converted into a store because people kept returning to buy stuff even after the expo ended.
The New West Lake Expo
Just over seven decades later, West Lake Expo returned. The city government revived the event in 2000, believing Hangzhou needed an economic boost since it doesn’t have a port, mine or oil resources that could drive the local economy.
The local government decided the city’s future lied in services like tourism, attracting large-scale domestic and international conferences, as well as creative and high-tech companies.
The 2000 West Lake Expo included exhibits on tea, handicrafts, cars, toys and furniture.
“I had held more than 30 handicraft art exhibitions around the country,” Chao Hongling, the then secretary of the China Handicraft Art Association, said after the event. “Yet this was the most successful one and I didn’t expect that.”
Since then, the West Lake Expo has been an annual event. Its most important function has been to drive the MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) sector. This has helped realigned the city’s economy around a combination of tourism, catering, hotel, and logistics.
Last year, the 29-day event included 50 programs and achieved a transaction volume of over 15 billion yuan. More than 8 million people participated in the expo.
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