Liangzhu Cultural Museum – Mind Blowing Relics of an Ancient Civilization

Liangzhu Cultural Museum is located very close to the town of Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province. The museum displays a large variety of archaeological relics of ancient civilization. The relics reflect the great achievement of the Liangzhu culture and have a powerful influence on the museum. The reminiscent of ancient civilizations was first noticed in 1931 at Liangzhu and further excavations revealed lots of information regarding the ancient civilization of Liangzhu Culture. The civilization is believed to be dated back to BC3000. Liangzhu Culture is also known as Jade Culture. The vast discoveries of ancient civilization prompted the formation of the Cultural Museum to protect the precious relics at the place where the relics were unearthed.


David Chipperfiled, the famous British architect, has designed this beautiful museum by accommodating all the basic requirements that can carry forward the important message to the visitors. The museum was completed in 2007 and then was open to the public. The project was developed and built by ZTUDI (the Architectural Design and Research Institute at Zhejiang University of Technology) and took five years to complete it. Before the construction, the place was a polluted industrial site. After several years’ endeavor, the Levin Monsigny Landschaftsarchitekten finally landscaped this location to the present form with artificial streams and mountains.


The museum structure is designed in geometrical abstract patterns. All the structures have four main blocks with an equal width of 18 meters and varied heights and lengths. For the mason works, Iranian travertine stone is used and shows a special appeal. Three sides of the museum are nearby the artificial lake which adds beauty to the prestigious look. Museum visit entry is through the bridges that built across the lake. While passing the bridge, people can have an idea of the rich irrigation systems and aquaculture systems of Liangzhu. Five spacious courtyards and excellent layout allow more natural daylight shine into the museum.



The museum is spread over an area of 40,000 square meters. It has temporary exhibition hall and three conventional halls as well as various function rooms apart from the exhibition halls. Different halls exhibit different relics, but all the halls have their own features.



Liangzhu Culture Museum is the center attraction of "the Liangzhu Holy Land Park." That the theme garden designed surrounding the museum gives a special magnificent appeal to the cultural museum. The exhibition halls are divided into various segments and displays from ancient Liangzhu Culture, handicrafts, complex social structure, jade to lacquer, black pottery and a complete system of etiquette etc. But there are still some unresolved mysteries about the extinction of this civilization. However, the relics unearthed are surprising enough to understand about the royal civilization.

Except Monday, the museum is open 9:00 am in the morning to 5:00 pm in the evening. Admission to the museum is free; however you have to spend money inside for your leisure activities. Detailed narrations will help you to understand about the relics displayed. Domestic road net work and rail net works as well as air net work are excellent, hence traveling to Hangzhou city is so convenient. Reaching to Liangzhu culture museum is relatively quite easy from Hangzhou. There are lots of regular bus services and tourist coach services are available.