Hangzhou is famous in China for West Lake. It’s a lake surrounded by temples, pagodas, and gardens. It’s been an inspiration to untold numbers of poets and artists for thousands of years. So instinctively, with my one day in Hangzhou, I headed straight for the glass and metal skyscrapers on the opposite side of town. Call me shallow, but this just called to me more. And with the typical Chinese haze, it actually created some pretty stunning light for architecture (and probably would have make West Lake less like a serene source of inspiration than a tragic sacrifice made for economic progress).