Summit could put capital of Zhejiang on the map

Whenever I tell my friends back in Australia, "I'm living, studying and working in China, in Hangzhou", their first response usually is "Where is Hangzhou?".

Naturally I tell them that it's about 200 km southwest of Shanghai. In the 13th century the famous explorer Marco Polo described Hangzhou as "the City of Heaven, the most beautiful and magnificent in the world".

Surprisingly enough, I believe that the city still lives up to that description to this day!

I moved to Hangzhou at the beginning of 2012 and in only four years I have seen it change a lot. There are new roads, new housing estates, new shopping centers and more imported food on supermarket shelves.

Hangzhou is a city rich in history and culture, with formidable local cuisine called hangbangcai.

Even though I'm extremely busy with full-time studies, working on the weekends, filming my weekly show, family life and charity work, I still manage to see new parts of Hangzhou, meet friendly locals and learn a bit more about this place that I have come to view as my home.

Hangzhou this year has received much attention from around the world as it will be hosting the G20 summit. This is a very exciting time. The buildup to the G20 has done great things for Hangzhou. Improvements have been made to roads and infrastructure. The city looks cleaner than before.

Even though people may not exactly know or understand what the G20 will do for Hangzhou in the long term, it has had a tremendously positive effect on everyone here, making the atmosphere even more vibrant and friendly. I think that this event will be the beginning of many more good things to come for Hangzhou.

I am doing my bit by hosting an online show, funded and approved by West Lake district government, called Travel Around The West Lake With Tim.

I host the show in Chinese introducing interesting places in the West Lake district and teaching a small amount of G20-related English at the end of each show.

Regarding the English signage around Hangzhou, I think much of it needs attention.

I am sure many reading this have already seen some funny or strange English signs. Perhaps the government should employ a group of foreigners, who could go around the city looking for poorly worded signs? There could even be fines given to places with poor English - that would be hilarious!

Hopefully in the not-too-distant future when I tell people back in Australia that I'm in Hangzhou, they will know exactly where it is and what it is all about.

(China Daily 06/27/2016 page7)