Hangzhou 杭州 is the capital of Zhejiang Province 浙江省. It is situated in the Yangtse river delta at the southern end of the Grand Canal, 180 kilometres southwest of Shanghai 上海. It is one of the six famous ancient capitals of China, the other five are Beijing 北京, Nanjing 南京, Xi'an 西安, Luoyang 洛阳, and Kaifeng 开封. Hangzhou was built on the eastern shores of the West Lake 西湖. The city is famous for its natural beauty and its cultural heritage including temples, pagodas, protected architectural sites, tea houses and ancient gardens. Many religious, artistic and cultural activities that started in Hangzhou have influenced the whole of China. Hangzhou is renowned as the centre of a 1,000-year-old silk industry and for being one of China's main tea providers. West Lake Dragon Well tea 西湖龙井, grown on the hills surrounding the city, is Hangzhou's speciality. Tea growing and drinking already flourished in the city when it was the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty, 1127 – 1279, and so the old capital is recognized as the birthplace of China’s tea culture.