National Tea Museum
Located in the Dragon Well Village -- a tea growing area south of the West Lake District in Hangzhou, the China Tea Museum was completed and opened to the public in October 1990. It occupies an area of 3,500 square meters and comprises 4 groups of buildings with displays outlining the traditions of growing tea south of the Yangtze River. Here you can learn about the history of tea, the best varieties and the etiquette of tea drinking in China.

It is one of the largest theme museums in Hangzhou City, the China Tea Museum lies with the green hills at its back and tea plantations in front. In the museum the trees made a shade everywhere with flowers in bloom all the year round. It is a calm and quiet place for relaxing and enjoying a cup of tea.

The four separated buildings are respectively of exhibition, tea sipping and tasting, tea service ceremony, and multi-function.

The exhibition building is again divided into 6 exhibition zones, including history of tea-growing, the varieties and distribution of tea in China, events related to tea, various tea utensils used in the old dynasties and tea-drinking habits in different parts of China with tea-related culture. Visitors can also learn about the scientific and technological aspects of tea growing and processing.

No.2 building has been a fine locale for a number of cultural activities on tea, including a series of international seminars on tea culture and exchange.

No. 3 and 4 buildings serve as tea drinking and performance sections, which not only introduce you the way to drink tea in detail, but also display various drinking rituals seen in different provinces and foreign countries.

National Silk Museum
Located at the foot of Yuhuang Mountain near West Lake in Hangzhou, the China National Silk Museum occupies an area of 8,000 square meters and opened to the public in February 1992. Former Chinese President Jiang Zemin once described it as, 'Carrying forward the ancient silk culture, and exploiting a new Silk Road'.

The museum takes up an area of about 50,000 square meters and consists of eight exhibition halls, namely the Prelude Hall, Relics Hall, Folk Custom Hall, Silkworm Hall, Silk Manufacturing Hall, Weaving Hall, Dying Hall and Achievements Hall.

The Prelude Hall displays Silkworm Twining Map (can zhi tu, which details the whole process from silkworm-raising to silk- weaving) of the Song Dynasty (960-1279), a model of restored jacquard loom, and a chronological table of the emerging of silk around the world, which shows that China is the first country to plant mulberry, raise silkworm, reel silk and finally make silk.

The basic exhibitions include five parts. The Major Hall narrates the story of Chinese silk. From the exhibits in the hall, we can see the origin and development of silk, the main species of silkworm, the location of the Silk Road and the position silk occupied in ancient Chinese society. The Dyeing and Weaving Hall and the Achievement Hall exhibits separately the development of ancient weaving looms and the great achievement China has made in the production, research and foreign trade of silk since the founding of P. R. China. In the museum, there is also an exhibition hall set aside for temporary, special exhibitions.

Vivid demonstrations are given in some halls, demonstrating the production process of the silk products. The museum itself is a good combination of culture, tourism and trade. It is also an educational base for both adults and children.

Neighboring the beautiful West Lake, the China National Silk Museum is the first national silk museum and is the largest silk museum in the world and was constructed utilizing both traditional and modern techniques and elements.