Business is in the blood for Zhejiang - a modern-day economic miracle

When the government of Hangzhou announced five years ago it would drain about 2 per cent of the West Lake's 5.68 sq km area for a tunnel project, there was great excitement - not at the prospect of another tunnel but at the treasures that would be found lying on the lake bed.

Hangzhou, the capital of eastern Zhejiang province , was the capital of China for 139 years from 1138AD during the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279), a time of great commercial and cultural maturity.

Its silk, shipbuilding, printing and munitions industries were so advanced that businesspeople from Japan, Korea, Arabia and Persia came to trade and help make it an international metropolis.

Domestic cross-pollination from the north to the south was aided by the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. Rich Chinese with gold, silver, jade, china and other valuables moved to the city to live around the lake, enjoy its natural beauty and make friends with poets, painters, calligraphers and all kinds of artists.

To the disappointment of many, the tunnel of 2003 - the first drainage project in five decades - did not unearth any hint of those flamboyant times. But you do not need to look to the past to see traces of prosperity - the province is a certified, modern-day economic miracle. In the central and southern mountainous areas, where farmland and mineral resources are scarce, people's will and persistence made up for the shortfall.

There is a centuries-old tradition of people leaving their homes to take on the outside world, becoming barbers or carpenters to businesspeople. Thanks to the migrants' success and exploration, homegrown manufacturers have found international markets. Almost every city holds a prominent position in the world's workshop, each one becoming a global manufacturing hub for lighters, electric devices, moulds, clothing or shoes.