Hangzhou opens museum on Wuyue culture

A museum dedicated to the history of Wuyue, an independent coastal kingdom founded during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (AD 907–960) of Chinese history, opened to the public in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, on Jan 28.

Located in Lin'an district, the 10,500-square-meter museum is designed by the Pritzker Prize winner Wang Shu, a Hangzhou-based Chinese architect and the dean of the School of Architecture of the China Academy of Art.

Back to ancient times, Hangzhou was the capital of the Wuyue Kingdom, one of the most economically prosperous and developed regions in China ruled by the emperor Qian Liu from Lin'an district.

Featuring a wide range of fine cultural relics from thousands of years ago, the museum is an encyclopedia that displays the profound history of the Wuyue Kingdom, and a window to promote the ancient culture, according to a local official Zhu Xiaodong, adding that the visitors can get a taste of a treasure house of jade, porcelain and metal processing techniques from that time.

"The project is of great significance which mirrors the historical culture of Lin'an district and is an achievement of heritage protection," said Bao Weihua, curator of the museum.