The culinary stars align in Hangzhou

HANGZHOU, China -- For years, Hangzhou -- the capital of eastern China's Zhejiang province -- was little more than a tourist stopover. Visitors glided across West Lake, sipped prized Longjing tea, then resigned themselves to mediocre West Lake Vinegar Fish and Longjing Shrimp. These mass-produced dishes, served to transient crowds, offered neither the aroma of green tea nor the sweetness of fresh river harvests. To the outside world, the "city of poets" had somehow devolved into a gastronomic desert.