Hangzhou, famous as a center of tourism, is trying to distinguish itself for its other qualities such as culture.

This year’s annual China (Hangzhou) Culture and Creative Industry Expo, to be held from Thursday to the following Sunday, will be the largest ever with lots of big names from the design industry and art field. The creative expo has been held every year since 2007.

The expo’s exhibition halls will occupy 400,000 square meters, and its main venue at Baima Lake International Conference and Exhibition Center is as three times large as last year’s main venue.

High-end brands like Italian motorcycle Ducati and Tonino Lamborghini will participate, and over 600 intangible heritage projects from around the world will be a part as well. Plenty of artists will show up at ceremonies, forums and seminars.

The expo, with this year’s theme of “Integration of Cultural Inheritance, Design Innovation,” combines nine exhibitions held in different zones, such as the China Hangzhou Asia-Pacific Traditional HandicraftsExhibition and the Hangzhou International Design Festival.

More than 2,000 cultural and creative organizations and companies from more than 60 countries and regions will participate, with more than half being from overseas.

The expo aims to be an “economical, practical and efficient” event, which will help enterprises find more business opportunities.

It has broad support, from UNESCO, the Ministry of Culture, the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, the China Industrial Design Association, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and many other national ministries and associations.

Hangzhou has been recognized for cultural excellence, and the expo is one way to broadcast that success.

Last year, Hangzhou was denominated as “City of Technology and Folk Arts” by UNESCO, and named “National Demonstrative Base of Integrative Development of Science and Culture” by the Ministry of Science and Technology. It has also been  chosen as an “Experimental Area of Culture and Creative Industry Cooperation between Taiwan and the Mainland” by Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council.

Below are some highlights of the creative expo. Visit www.goccie.org for more information.

China Hangzhou Asia-Pacific Traditional Handicrafts Exhibition

Sponsored by the Zhejiang Intangible Heritage Protection Center, the first China Hangzhou Asia-Pacific Traditional Handicrafts Exhibition will host 105 foreign and nearly 500 domestic intangible heritage projects.

An intangible cultural heritage is one transmitted from generation to generation, and is constantly recreated by communities and groups, in response to their environment, their interaction with nature, and their history, according to unesco.org. It provides people with a sense of identity and continuity.

The exhibition is comprised of 11 major activities, including displays of celadon pottery, traditional handicrafts, Chinese embroidery and tree root carving.

Also a commercial area will be set up in the exhibition, providing visitors with access to handicrafts from the Asia-Pacific area.

A seminar will be held to discuss the sustainable development of intangible cultural heritage projects.

Hangzhou International Design Festival

The venue design by German architectural designer Falk Kagelmacher is expected to be impressive, as is the participation by famous brands.

The festival’s theme is “Green, Wisdom and Fashion,” and it will display latest works and ideas of design in fashion, furniture, cars and handicrafts from over 1,000 design firms and manufacturers in an area of 10,000 square meters.

Also, the Taiwan delegation is to display their eco-friendly architectural concepts, while the Macau delegation introduces their visual image designs, traditional and avant-garde illustrations and animations.

The festival is separated into sections that include Chinese traditional design, eco-friendly design and innovation intelligence and multi-material design.

Cross-Strait Culture and Creative Works Exhibition

Taiwan will bring its best-selling creative products to Hangzhou to display in a 2,000-square-meter exhibition area.

This year the Taiwan pavilion includes brands like Pottery Workshop, which will show their latest tea tools; Ci Jin Kiln, which will present its stereoscopic porcelain sculpture techniques; and Wu Ching’s gold sculpture works.

Works collected by The Taipei Palace Museum and Ilan Center for Traditional Arts will also appear.

8th China 4A Golden Seal Award

The award, initiated by the Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies of China, promotes excellence in advertising. This year 273 entries have been selected among 1,000-plus candidates, and the prizes will be awarded on October 16.

The award is presented in cooperation with the Hangzhou Cultural and Creative Office and the Hangzhou Canal National Advertisement Industry Park. Forums, salons, exhibitions and TV commercial displays will be part of the event.

Chinese delegation that visited the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2013, the largest awards event for the creative industry, will make a presentation at a forum.

Visit http://go.sohu.com/2013/china4a/ for tickets for the awards ceremony.

1st China (Hangzhou) International Micro Films Festival

Short films, now often dubbed “micro films,” have become popular and fashionable.

The festival collects, displays and gives awards to good micro films.

The exhibition received over 1,000 micro films from home and abroad, and will give 16 “Golden Osmanthus” awards for the best fiction, the best animation and the best documentary.

Awards will also be given to the best charity micro film, brand micro film, city micro film and music micro film.

Special events include new films’ premieres and business conferences. Italian director Mark Bellocchio, Hollywood director Spike Jonze and Chinese director Zhang Yuan will be festival guests.

6th Hangzhou Citizen Photography Festival

Nobody understands a city more than locals, and photography is always a revealing way to “read” a city’s stories.

The 6th Hangzhou Citizen Photography Festival, with theme “Beautiful Hangzhou,” has received more than 10,000 photos from citizens, and is to exhibit 50 Hangzhou citizens’ works.

Also displayed will be an environmental protection photography exhibition, a “Hangzhou Girl” photography exhibition, and a famous photographers’ exhibition. More than 4,000 photos will be on display.

Works of award-winning photographers from World Photo Press, National Geographic and Reuters will be shown as well.

Some of the photos about Hangzhou have already been made into postcards available at any Hangzhou post office.

Second International Creative Pattern Design Competition 

Hangzhou’s iconic art institution, China Academy of Art, will hold this competition.

The competition, organized by the China Academy of Art and Hangzhou municipal government, aims to explore pattern culture and will found the International Creative Pattern Design Alliance.

The international competition includes contestants and jurors from 20 countries, hoping to present culture and technology from different areas through patterns, and will show the fusion of art and technology as well as the connection between design and daily life.