The year 2008 marks the 970th anniversary of Su Dongpo's birth， one of the greatest poets and essayists of China. Su Dongpo (1037-1101) acted as mayor of Hangzhou twice. The poet and essayist loved Hangzhou so much that he regarded himself as a native of Hangzhou although he was born in Sichuan， a province in southwestern China. The local people of Hangzhou always dearly embrace him as an immortal native of the paradise on earth. On January 26， 2008， a memorial and poetry recital was held in the Yongfu Zen Temple located in Lingyin， a famed Buddhist sanctuary in Hangzhou. The event was sponsored by the Home of Poets， an institution under the Zhejiang Writers Association， Hangzhou History Association and the Su Dongpo Museum. In attendance at the gathering were historians， writers， poets， artists， scholars， representatives of religious organizations， businessmen and the provincial and city government officials.

Su Dongpo lived through the reigns of five emperors of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127). During his political career， he served as important court ministers， gave lessons to emperors， acted as mayors for eight important cities and he was exiled for ten years. A brilliant and prolific man of letters， he penned over 2700 poems， 230 Ci-poems， and 4，500 essays in his lifetime. Su Dongpo， his younger brother and their father were three of the eight major essay masters of the Tang (618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties. He was also an outstanding calligrapher famed for his stylish running script and regular script. His predecessor Ouyang Xiu (1007-1072)， a leading writer of the Northern Song Dynasty， remarked that reading Su's works made him feel ashamed about himself and he should step aside and let Su make his reputation. Lin Yutang (1895-1976)， a writer of the 20th century， commented on Su's life and literary achievement in a preface to his The Gay Genius: the Life and Times of Su Tungpo， published in 1948 in USA， that \"Su Tungpo was an incorrigible optimist， a great humanitarian， a friend of the people， a prose master， an original painter， a great calligraphist， an experimenter in wine making， an engineer， a hater of puritanism， a yogi， a Buddhist believer， a Confucian statesman， a secretary to the emperor， a confirmed wine-bibber， a humane judge， a dissenter in politics， a prowler in the moonlight， a poet， and a wag.\" Lin observed that \"There had to be one Su Tungpo， but there could not be two.\"

Su came to Hangzhou first in 1071 at the age of 36 and came to the city again in 1089 at the age of 54. During his terms in Hangzhou， he dredged the West Lake， built a causeway which is named after him， built canals， transported salt into the city， inspected the counties around Hangzhou in an effort to battle the disaster of locusts， and submitted appeals to the central government for approval to use government grains to help victims of natural disasters. Learning his death， people in Zhejiang and Jiangsu wept in sorrow. In his lifetime， Su adopted a big-hearted attitude of Zen and Buddhism toward the vicissitudes of his life. Nothing could keep him down forever. During his stays in Zhejiang， twice as mayor of Hangzhou and once as mayor of Huzhou， he visited all the scenic sights in the northern and western parts of the picturesque province and wrote 453 poems describing what he saw and how he felt. One of them is a short poem about the charming beauty of the West Lake. No one before or since can outshine him. For this reason， he is honored as the poet of the West Lake.

With a passion for elegant joys of life， Su Dongpo was also a gourmet. Today， the restaurants across the city of Hangzhou offer many dishes in his name. Su Dongpo enjoyed his stays in Hangzhou， arguably the happiest periods of his life. In 2000， Le Monde， an influential newspaper of France， conducted a public survey to select 12 people for the second millennium. Su Dongpo was the only Chinese honored by the list. People's Daily， a leading Chinese newspaper， published an editorial that proudly commented on the selection of Su Dongpo by the French newspaper.