Is Hangzhou ready for the G20 Summit?

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With China preparing to host the G20 Leaders' Summit for the first time, the eyes of the world are on the G20 economies, the summit, and perhaps above all the city of Hangzhou. China has gone through lots of preparations to serve as the host country. But is Hangzhou ready?

The city has given its urban facilities a facelift. One of the most notable examples is a residential community in Sixingfang district.

Built in the 1920s, the neighborhood was the first real estate project put up for sale in Hangzhou in modern times. An incredible amount of work has now gone into its transformation.

Since November 2015, 57 illegal structures and 132 broken canopies and chimneys here have been demolished. More than 10 million yuan (around 1.5 million US dollars) has been invested in upgrading 10,000 square meters.

The Sixingfang community is just one of 651 infrastructure renovation projects in Hangzhou, covering environmental treatment, hotels for state guests and airport expressways.

But hardware improvements alone are far from enough.

The city of seven million permanent residents has mobilized more than 760,000 volunteers. That's nearly one tenth of the population. Many senior citizens are conducting regular street security patrols.

And they are busy learning simple English phrases.

"Good morning! How can I get to the West Lake?"

"The West Lake? Turn left, go straight, you can see [it]!"

"Okay! Thank you very much! Have a nice day! Bye!"

"Bye!"

The accent may be Chinese, but it's this kind of spirit that will help make the summit a success.

(Edited by Wang Mingyan)

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