2．临安最盛南宋时
在杭州的历史上，最为灿烂的一段莫过于南宋，那时的杭州建筑精美、商业发达、文化繁荣。也就是从南宋开始，杭州这个美丽的地方才被人们比喻为人间天堂。
南宋初年，逃避战乱的宋高宗在到杭州之后，改杭州为临安府，后又定都临安。
南宋初期，由于中原战乱和朝廷的南迁，北方的人们大量向南迁移，他们主要来到浙江一带，而杭州更是南迁人们的最大集中地。杭州城的居民从最初的不过10余万户壮大到26万户，计55万余人，到南宋末年，全城的人口已经超过百万，是全国的第一大城市。
南宋朝廷大兴土木，把皇宫建在凤凰山，王城北起凤山门，西到万松岭，东到候潮门，南到江干。从朝天门向北，即今天的中山路和中山北路，当时是一条用石板铺成的、长达“一万三千多尺”的御街。此外还有大量的坊巷和市集。御街以东，是南北纵贯与御街平行的市河。市河以东，又有与市河平行的盐桥运河。市河与盐桥运河最后又在南部沟通，向南直达钱塘江边，向北则直接与江南运河及整个太湖流域的河湖网相连。像这样纵横交错的街道和河渠，构成了南宋杭州城市的整个布局。
随着城市人口的增多，杭州的商业空前繁荣，出现了三大商业中心。在南宋杭州的服务性行业中，“瓦市”特别发达。瓦市是一种民间娱乐场所。当时杭州城内最大的瓦市有5处，即今青河坊附近的南瓦，今惠民街的中瓦，今羊坝头的瓦大瓦（上瓦），今众安桥的北瓦，今庆春桥的蒲桥瓦（东瓦），其中以北瓦的规模最大。一个瓦市内又分成若干“勾栏”，每个勾栏都有各流名角主演不同种类的曲艺或戏剧，日夜不停。除了城内的瓦市外，城郊也有许多瓦市，如候潮门瓦、荐桥门瓦等，共有20处。所有瓦市附近，都是店铺林立、商业繁荣的地方。当时杭州的海外贸易也很发达，杭州湾内聚集着大量的巨形船舶，有从各个地方运来的货物。作为南宋的都城，外国使节的往来也络绎不绝，他们与南宋王朝之间的进奉和回赠，实际上也是一种变相的官方贸易。
随着经济的发展，杭州的文化教育事业也呈现出欣欣向荣的景象。早在北宋时，杭州已经是全国三大刻书中心之一。南宋初年，朝廷下令刻的经史子集数万卷，作为范本，所刻的书被称为“监本”，这些“监本”之中，就有一半在杭州刊印。司马光的巨著《资治通鉴》就是先在临安雕版印刷发行的。后来，杭州的印刷出版业居于全国首位，城内外有名字可查的书坊就有二十多家，钟家铺刻印的《文选五官注》至今仍保存在国家图书馆，被认为是雕刻珍品。当时杭州刊印的书籍，字体工整，刀法娴熟，纸质坚白，墨色清香，被古今的学者们一致称赞。至今仍保存着的南宋杭刻书籍，都是中国宋版书的精华，是珍贵的文化遗产。
南宋的教育也很发达。当时，朝廷在杭州创办的学校有太学、武学和宗学三种，合称三学。其中的太学是当时中国最高的学府，设置在纪家桥以东，规模宏伟，房舍宽敞。学生按程度分上舍、内舍和外舍三个等级，学生最多时达到1700多人，一切费用全由国家供给。此外，在凌家桥设有临安府学，在钱塘、仁和两个县的县衙附近设有县学，在通江桥设有医学，专门培养医药人才。在这些学校以下，还有为数众多的乡校、家塾、舍馆、书会等。杭州的每一里巷，都有这类的学校至少一两所。由此可见当时杭州文风之发达。
随着杭州城市的发展，西湖的面貌在南宋也有很大的改变。白居易和苏东坡为了农田灌溉和城市供水，对西湖进行了整治，为西湖的治理作出了贡献。南宋建都以后，西湖从一个水库变成了风景区，人们把它当作大公园，而且还沿湖兴建了大量的亭台、楼阁、寺庙，增添了许多金碧辉煌的人工雕琢，于是，西湖就出现了游客如云、歌舞遍地的局面。现在西湖的布局就是那个时候形成的。
南宋著名的诗人范成大在《吴郡志》中第一次用了“天上天堂，地下苏杭”的赞语，这句话后来又被人们改为更为通俗的“上有天堂，下有苏杭”的言语，至今仍然广为流传。杭州从南宋时开始被比喻为天堂，这说明了当时城市的繁荣和西湖的美丽。
2. Hangzhou in Southern Song Dynasty
In history, Hangzhou was most brilliant in the Southern Song dynasty. Elegant buildings, busy commercial markets and colorful cultural activities all helped to build Hangzhou into "a paradise on the earth".
In the early years of Southern Song, tortured so much by years of wars and encouraged by the southward move of the central government, a mass of northerners started a southward movement. Most of them finally settled down in today's Zhejiang and Hangzhou was a major destination. As a result, population in Hangzhou jumped from less than 100,000 households to 260,000 households or 550,000 if counted by person. By the end of Southern Song, Hangzhou became the country's biggest city with a population of more than one million.
The royal court of the Southern Song dynasty ordered a number of constructions including the Imperial Palace which rested on the Phoenix Mountain and the Imperial city which extended to Fengshan Gate in the north, Jianggan in the South, Houchao Gate in the east and Wangsong Hill in the west. Starting from Chaotian Gate or today's Zhongshan Road and Zhongshan North Road, a south-to-north imperial street paved with flagstones stretched more than 13,000 chi (about 4,333 meters). To the east of the imperial street were an inner-city river and a salt transporting canal which were parallel to the street. In the north, the river and the canal met the Grand Canal and other lakes in the Taihu Lake area; in the south, the two converged and flew into the Qiantang River. In addition to the water network, the city had a crisscross network of streets with all kinds of workshops and fairs dotting here and there.
An increasing population boosted the development of commerce and the city entered an unprecedented boom. As a result, three commercial centers took shape. In the service industry, there gradually formed a kind of civilian entertainment market which was called "washi" in Chinese. So popular among the common people that there were five super washi within the imperial city and twenty others more outside. Inside a washi, there were popular actors and actresses singing and performing Chinese dramas of different schools all day and all night long; outside, there stood shops of different kinds in a great number. Foreign trade entered a boom, too. Inside Hangzhou Bay, there anchored a great number of gigantic ships with goods shipped from all over the world. In the Imperial Palace, foreign envoys came and went. The exchange of gifts between them and the royal court of Southern Song was in fact a disguised form of government-to-government trade.
A prosperous economy is a catalyst to the development of culture and education. As early as in the Song dynasty, Hangzhou was one of the three national block printing centers. In the first few years of Southern Song, the royal court ordered to have thousands of volumes of classics carved to be models. Then books were engraved from the models and they were called "jianben". At that time, nearly half of all the jianben in China were printed in Hangzhou, including the famous historical monograph Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Governance. Later, Hangzhou became number one in the block printing industry. Printing houses flourished in a great number with more than twenty having recorded names. With tidy characters engraved from skillfully cut models, white and durable paper as well as high-quality ink, the engraved books were spoken highly of as "wonders" by scholars and are still regarded so by today's scholars. Those that have been preserved until now are undoubtedly valuable cultural heritage.
Education in Southern Song was well developed as well. The royal court established the Imperial College, the Martial Arts College and the College of Rites, which were know as "three colleges". Among the three, the Imperial College was the most prestigious. There, more than 1,700 students who were divided into three grades - senior, middle and junior, studied in clean and large classrooms for free. Apart from the Imperial College, there are public schools at the prefecture level, the county level and the village level as well as numberless private schools and a few medical schools.
Among the various constructions that shaped a prosperous and picturesque Hangzhou, construction of the West Lake was sure to be one. As various terraces, pavilions and temples were erected along the bank, the past reservoir turned into a beautiful resort that attracted visitors near and afar just as it does today.
Thus, Fan Chengda, an established poet in Southern Song, wrote in one of his poems "There is a paradise in the heaven, there are Suzhou and Hangzhou on the earth" which was later changed into a more popular saying "up above there is Paradise, down here there are Suzhou and Hangzhou", a testimony to the prosperity and beauty of the city.
