Liangzhu Museum (良渚博物馆), covering an area of over 40,000 square meters, is home to an extensive collection of exquisite jade artifacts dating back four to five thousand years from the Liangzhu archaeological site. The museum currently houses 3,266 pieces/sets of artifacts, including 114 precious cultural relics. It features three permanent exhibition halls: “Water Town and Marshland,” “Sacred Land of Civilization,” and “Jade Soul and National Spirit,” showcasing the archaeological achievements and heritage value of the Liangzhu site and culture.
The museum’s architecture itself is a work of art, designed by a British architect with inspiration drawn from the concept of “a jade awl falling to the ground.” The contemporary design enhances the overall aesthetic appeal of the museum.
Liangzhu Culture, dating from approximately 5,300 to 4,000 years ago along the Qiantang River, represents the late Neolithic period with distinctive features such as black pottery and polished jade artifacts. Many scholars consider Liangzhu Culture as China’s first dynasty, while others view it as the origin of the Xia culture. The museum serves as a significant repository, preserving and presenting the rich archaeological legacy and cultural significance of the Liangzhu civilization.
Table of Contents
- Basic Information
- Location and Transportation
- Exhibitions in Liangzhu Museum
- Vlog about Liangzhu Museum
Basic Information
| Estimated Length of Tour | 2 hours |
| Ticket Price | Free |
| Opening Hours | 9.00 – 16.30 |
| Telephone Number | 0086-0571-88773875 0086-0571-88773875 |
Location and Transportation
Liangzhu Museum is located within the Liangzhu Cultural Village at 1 Meilizhou Road, Yuhang District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China. To get there, tourists can take bus 428M, 1222M, 1223M and get off at the Main Gate of Liangzhu Museum Stop (良渚博物馆正门站).
Exhibitions in Liangzhu Museum
Water Town and Marshland
The first exhibition hall narrates the rise and development of a kingdom established in wetlands. Seven thousand years ago, the formation of Taihu Lake influenced human lifestyles, creating the material foundation for survival and development. During the Liangzhu Culture period around five thousand years ago, ancestors engaged in rice cultivation and aquaculture, with rice becoming the primary staple food and domesticated pigs serving as the main source of meat. Various crafts such as pottery making, textile production, bone carving, stone tool crafting, lacquering, and jade carving became more specialized and systematic. Additionally, a set of pictorial symbols, considered an early form of writing, emerged. The highly developed agriculture and craftsmanship laid a solid economic foundation for the formation and development of Liangzhu Civilization.
Sacred Land of Civilization
The Liangzhu ancient city site discovered in 2007 stands as tangible evidence of China’s five-thousand-year civilization history, acclaimed as the “First City of China.” Through over eighty years of archaeological exploration, the Liangzhu ancient city’s planning, construction, and structural layout have revealed a paradigm of early urban civilization in East Asia.
Jade Soul and National Spirit
During the Liangzhu period, the use of jade demonstrated clear social hierarchies. The exhibition explores the unique jade rituals in Liangzhu society, including the shared worship of deities represented by jade artifacts such as divine emblems and the distinct roles of jade cong, jade yue, and jade bi in symbolizing divine authority, military power, and royal authority. This reflects a distinct socio-political structure in Liangzhu society with a fusion of politics and religion. The dissemination of Liangzhu jade cong has had a lasting impact on Chinese civilization, influencing its development and continuity to this day. The exhibition sheds light on the intricate relationship between Liangzhu culture, jade artifacts, and the societal structure, providing visitors with a comprehensive understanding of this ancient civilization.
The entire museum consists of four exhibition halls: three permanent galleries and one temporary exhibition. This temporary gallery mainly features jade artifacts from Shaanxi, which are quite visually appealing. The other three halls primarily explain the development history of Liangzhu culture, among other topics. While they’re not as visually striking, they hold significant historical importance. Two hours is definitely enough time to explore; I found it a bit dull as there wasn’t much visual impact.
The exhibition hall is quite small, so you won’t spend too much time here. If you’re looking at the exhibits, it will take about two hours; if you’re not, around an hour should be enough. Although the building was designed by David Chipperfield, the layout is quite simple and there aren’t many twists and turns in the space. However, the details are still quite nice.
During the Spring Festival, it gets quite crowded, so you need to book in advance on the WeChat account “Liangzhu Ancient City” (良渚古城). The tickets are free. For dinner, we ate at Stuart’s Food Nine Virtues (斯图亚特食九德), which is about 3 kilometers from the museum. The environment and taste were both quite good, costing around 170 CNY per person.
Recently, the Liangzhu Museum has a large temporary exhibition of Han Dynasty artifacts. It’s not crowded, so it’s easy to spend two to three hours exploring.
Here are my thoughts after visiting the Liangzhu Museum: 1. The surrounding environment is beautiful, and the museum’s design is also quite stunning. 2. There are quite a few exhibits that are adorable and interesting in shape. 3. While the pottery is impressive, what really amazes me is how the Liangzhu ancestors, 5000 years ago, crafted perfectly round, tubular, and polygonal jade objects using tools available at that time. Some of these items are incredibly thin and smooth, with some… Read more »
The Liangzhu Museum is absolutely stunning, and the surrounding environment is really nice too. If it weren’t raining, I would have loved to take a longer stroll around.
The lighting was good and the display was nice as well. The World Heritage special exhibition was not very large, and the overall visit lasted less than two hours. The second exhibition hall emphasized the historical significance of Liangzhu as a city and the excavation process. However, it seemed that most people headed straight for the third exhibition hall, which had the most exhibits.
The museum is not very big, and the number of visitors is reasonable.
At first, I thought I would spend at least half a day at the Museum. However, after going there, it only took half an hour to finish as the museum is quite small with only three exhibition halls. I didn’t visit the temporary exhibition hall. The museum’s collection is not extensive, and many items are replicas.
Special exhibition for the 30th anniversary of the Liangzhu Museum, ending on October 31st. The museum has set up several special exhibition installations, including stamps at the entrance featuring the previous Liangzhu Culture Museum; various promotional installations on the outdoor corridor on both sides, where multiple layers of glass seem to connect 5000 years ago and today; on the promotional wall, a systematic narrative of the discovery, development, and imagination of the site is depicted with dense branches and leaves,… Read more »