National Museums

Here are some of the museums of national ranking located in Hangzhou:

China Tea Museum is the only one of its kind in the country. This national museum displays a bewildering variety of teas produced nationwide, ranging from black tae to green tea, from white tea to dark tea, from Yunnan brick tea to Fujian oolong (black dragon) tea .

A major part of the museum is dedicated to tea culture. Visiting the museum therefore, is to learn about tea-growing and tea-drinking in different countries throughout the world, all types of delicate tea-set, and various tea ceremonies that reigned or still reign in China.

China Silk Museum features silk production that has been going on in China for over 5,000 years. Exhibits on display include unearthed silk fabrics dating form the New Stone Age till the Han, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties as well as the best products from different parts of China.

On display, too, are tools and machines, ancient and modern, that describe the whole process of silk production from silkworm breeding, reeling, spinning, weaving, printing to dyeing.

China boasts two best-known traditional medicine stors - one in Beijing and the other in Hangzhou - as the saying goes, "While there is Tong Ren Tang in the Nroth, there is Huqingyutang in the South."

Located in Dajing Lane at the foot of Wu Hill, Huqingyutang was founded in 1878 by the famous Qing busenessman Hu Xueyan. It is a 120-year-old business preparing herbal medications. Known as a court-style pharmacy, it features typical architectural style of the Qing Dnasty. Whoever visits the place is likely to be as much impressed by its unique building as by the medications it produces. Simple, tastetul and unsophisticated, the building is a rare, well-preserved Qing-style structure for industry and commerce. In 1988, it was listed as one of the major national monuments.

Built on the site of the Southern Song Imperial Kiln, the museum is China's only special one of its kind.

During the Southern Song Dynasty, its capital city of Hangzhou flourished as a major center of porcelain production. As the city was where the imperial court was located, the kilns in the city mostly made poreclain for the exclusive use of the emperors or the imperial courts. The porcelain fell into two types, namely, porcelain for daily use and porcelain for decorative purpose.

With the total floorage of 3,400 square meters, the present museum consists of three sections: a cultural relies exhibition, a workshop and protected site of Dragon Kiln.

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