Aerial photo of the crowded Broken Bridge in Hangzhou's West Lake during the May Day holidays Photo: Xinhua
The "most beautiful wall" by the West Lake Photo provided to Hangzhoufeel
By Feng Zihan
During this year's May Day holidays, over 274 million passenger trips were made in China, releasing the long-accumulated demand for outbound travel. Wherever you go, there are huge throngs of people. In Hangzhou, you can always find love and kindness.
A helping hand by the lake
By the West Lake, the "West Lake Lao Ge", or the "West Lake Salvage Brothers" in English, namely, a distinctive squad of local policemen, is well-known to many visitors to Hangzhou. Tourists who accidentally drop items into the West Lake would receive free assistance from this team.
As one of the first members of the team, Zhou Xiangjun has helped countless tourists refloating their belongings. Their tools have developed from the initial magnets to the later self-made visual artifacts. For instance, one of the gadgets is very smart, with a clamp and camera in the front, a telescopic pole in the middle, and a screen at the back. Due to its high visibility in the water, even small items like earphones and rings can be retrieved quickly.
According to a rough estimate by the public security department of the West Lake scenic area, more than 880 items of various types of products have been reclaimed since 2020, with a total value exceeding 4.5 million yuan. "We do not only make a salvage pole, but also want to find better ways to serve tourists," the leader of the squad said.
During the May Day holidays, more than 15,000 services of various kinds were provided, including assisting in the recovery of over 70 lost persons and 50 missing items, salvaging more than 30 overboard items, and resolving over 140 travel-related disputes.
"If you run into any difficulties, don't hesitate to contact us." The policeman added, "The process of salvaging things is more like the process of returning their beloved to the owners. Whether in freezing winter or scorching summer, we would help tourists retrieve their lost properties as soon as possible. After gaining recognition from tourists, there is a sense of achievement. We also hope that the heritage of ‘Lao Ge' will be passed down from generation to generation."
A record 2.82m holiday visitors
According to the big data, Hangzhou's cultural tourism is warmly sought after by tourists. More than 6.35 million people have visited the downtown area of Hangzhou, skyrocketing 289.89 percent year on year. The number of tourists in the West Lake scenic area during the May Day holidays ranked first among all the scenic areas across China, reaching over 2.82 million. Besides, the tolled parks have received 837,100 visitors, an increase of 14.24% compared to that in the same period in 2019. The West Lake was still packed with tourists on May 3, the last day of the holidays. As the sightseers from different urban communities in the Yangtze River Delta were the primary visitors, thanks to the rapid rail network, it became possible for them to tour around Hangzhou and return home within one day.
During the holidays, Hangzhou also launched a series of policies and measures to promote cultural tourism consumption. A large number of cultural tourism consumption coupons were issued, free tours were carried out at several A-level scenic spots, and a series of cultural tourism consumption promotive activities were distributed.
From the holidays, we can get a glimpse of the strong recovery momentum of its cultural tourism industry.
"Most beautiful wall" upgraded with new formation
During the May Day holidays, the "most beautiful wall" by the West Lake had returned as promised. Upgraded from the original parallel shape to the cross shape, "the most beautiful wall" by the Lakeside once again caught the national attention.
As the version 2.0 of the "Most beautiful human wall", there are 40 volunteers on each side of Yan'an Road. When the red light turns green, 12 people in the team quickly stand on the outside of the X, and 8 people stand on the inside. The four corners are synchronously changed to form an X-shaped human wall. When the green light turns red, the outer 24 people hand in hand quickly form a straight line from the top corner of the triangle, converging on both sides along the middle of the zebra crossing. Two volunteers are left in each of the four top corners of the inner side, and the rest were evacuated with the outer team. This design aims to help maintain traffic order and protect the safety of tourists.
"From the height, the formation looks like a blooming flower or a winding fan in the process of change, which I believe will become a new scenic line along the West Lake. It is expected to optimize the traffic order around the business district, providing tourists with more quality services to embrace the upcoming Asian Games in Hangzhou," a person in charge said.