China National Silk Museum

China National Silk Museum
中国丝绸博物馆

Address: 73-1 Yuhuangshan Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang province
Websites: www.chinasilkmuseum.com/index_en.aspx (En)
www.chinasilkmuseum.com (Cn)
Hours: 9:00-17:00 (Tuesday-Sunday)
9:00-12:00 (Mondays)
Closed on Monday afternoon, except for national holidays
E-mail: chinasilkmuseum@163.com
General admission: Free

As China proposed the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013, the ancient Silk Road, a term coined by the German explorer Ferdinand von Richthofen (833-1905) in 1877, regained global attention for its contribution to economic connections between Europe, Asia and Africa.

Silk, one of China’s main products that were transported to the outside world along the route, is the first thing that pops into many foreigners’ minds when thinking of China.

In the early 1990s, to promote its profound silk culture, China National Silk Museum was established as the country’s first State-level silk-themed museum on the southern bank of West Lake in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. It is the world’s biggest silk museum.

The main role of the museum is to research and conserve Chinese textile relics. The range of exhibits includes important facts on silk making and silk products from the different dynasties that once ruled the nation. The museum also showcases China’s silk manufacturing techniques, and how silk products are being churned out in modern times. The most distinctive exhibits of the museum are textile relics unearthed along the ancient Silk Road and some time-honored clothes from Europe.