In 1929, the West Lake Expo was held in Hangzhou, and it helped the local economy of the capital of East China's Zhejiang province, which until then had been struggling due to war and social turmoil.

Decades later, models of the expo's pavilions are on display at an ongoing exhibition organized by Hangzhou-based China Academy of Arts. The show tells the story of how the pavilions were designed mixing Chinese and Western styles.

Design Road, China Academy of Arts, which opened on Saturday, advocates Eastern design and reviews China's design history from the founding of the academy in 1928. The show offers a wide spectrum of exhibits from architecture to fashion and articles of daily use, all from the institute's own collection.