Zhejiang Province is located on China's southeast coast, south of the Yangtze River Delta. Adjacent to the north is Shanghai, China's largest city, while a vast hinterland stretches westward. The whole province is noted for its picturesque scenery, and the abundance of its products has made it widely known as a "land of fish and rice." It is also noted for its silk and tea, as well as for its numerous historical and cultural sites of interest to scholars and tourists alike.

Zhejiang covers a total area of 101,800 sq km, of which 70.4 percent is mountainous or hilly. Plains and basins make up 23.2 percent, and rivers and lakes make up the other 6.4 percent. It also occupies a large sea area. Along the coast, there are 3,061 islands each having an area of more than 500 sq m. This brings the total coastline to 6,486 km, the longest in China. Areas under cultivation total 1.613 million ha. Land used by forestry covers 6.397 million ha. there is a combined fresh water surface area of 224,000 ha. and over 100,000 ha. of shallow sea and shoals are suitable for aquaculture. Also there is the Zhoushan fishing ground producing the biggest catches on the coastline of China.