Classic tales from East and West converge in lake extravaganza

State leaders and their spouses in Hangzhou for the G20 Summit enjoyed a feast for the eyes on Sunday night with a gala on the city's much-storied West Lake.

The 45-minute visual extravaganza, Most Memorable Is Hangzhou, a title taken from a poem by Bai Juyi (772-846), highlighted the city's rich cultural legacy as well as incorporated international elements that subtly reflect the state of today's globalization.

The evening was billed as a symphony concert, using a musical idiom that director Zhang Yimou chose for its broadly international resonance. Traditional Chinese instruments wove in with the sounds of a standard orchestra in an East-meets-West marriage suggestive of exchanges in other areas.