It was formerly a city in its own right, separated by the Qiantang River from Hangzhou proper, but the municipality was annexed by its more populous neighbor in 2001.

The area's history of human settlement dates back to more than 8000 years ago, as excavations at Xiaoshan's Kuahuqiao archeological site have shown.

The terrain is high in the south and low in the north, tilting from southwest to northeast and slightly low-lying in the center.

[8] Climate Xiaoshan District is located on the southern edge of the northern subtropical monsoon climate zone; the climate is characterized by long winter and summer, short spring and autumn, and four distinct seasons: abundant light, abundant rainfall, warm and humid; cold air is easy to enter and difficult to get out of the more disastrous weather; light, temperature, and water of the regional differences are apparent.

Currently, it has formed leading industries including electronic communications, automobiles and auto parts, precision machinery, medical food, textiles, garments, chemical building materials.