The Globe and Mail reports in its Monday, July 7, edition that Liangzhu, a quiet suburb of the Chinese city Hangzhou (which looks much like Silicon Valley), attracts entrepreneurs and tech talent with low rents and proximity to companies like Alibaba and DeepSeek. A New York Times dispatch to The Globe reports that it was in Liangzhu where aspiring founders of tech start-ups recently talked about their ideas. "People come here to explore their own possibilities," said Felix Tao, 36, a former Facebook and Alibaba employee. Virtually all of those possibilities involve artificial intelligence. As China faces off with the United States over tech primacy, Hangzhou has become the centre of China s AI frenzy. Mr. Tao's home is a hub for coders who have settled in Liangzhu, many in their 20s and 30s. They call themselves "villagers," writing code in coffee shops during the day and gaming together at night, hoping to harness AI to create their own companies. Hangzhou has already birthed tech powerhouses, not only Alibaba and DeepSeek but also NetEase and Hikvision. Aspiring founders in Liangzhu, even those who did not go to top universities, believe they could start the next world-changing tech company, Mr. Tao said.