Hangzhou, a 2,000-year-old lakeside city located 180 kilometres south of Shanghai in eastern China, is a renowned tourist destination, but recent urban development has blighted many of its views.

China first applied for the area around the city’s West Lake (pictured) to become a World Heritage site in 1996, and city officials are hoping to increase their chances of success by pruning all buildings taller than 24 metres situated on the lake’s eastern shores. These include the five-star Shangri-La hotel, a television tower and several other buildings.

‘We have hired foreign firms to draft detailed plans of how to reduce the height of the Shangri-La, whose owners will be compensated,’ said Wang Suifa, who will head the 40 million yuan (£4million) redevelopment project.

Judy Wang, a representative of the Shangri-La hotel, said she had heard nothing about the project but added: ‘We will keep a close watch on it.’

China has 37 World Heritage sites; only Italy (43) and Spain (40) have more.

March 2009