Zhejiang Provincial Museum (浙江省博物馆)

Museum · Hangzhou. The provincial museum's old Gushan campus on West Lake, free with a courtyard library.

Source: https://chinafootnotes.com/places/zhejiang-provincial-museum · Data checked 2026-10-08 · Rendered for 2026-10-09 (Asia/Shanghai). Facts carry their status; "not found yet" means we searched and found no reliable source.

Notices in effect

• 2026-08-10 to 2026-12-31: The main building's permanent galleries and the Leifeng Pagoda relics hall are closed for upgrading. The museum's notice of 10 August 2026 says they stay closed and gives no reopening date.
• 2026-07-24 to 2026-10-11: 'Silk Road Treasures: Nomadic Cultures of the Kazakh Steppe' runs in the Zhejiang West Lake Art Museum, free, no reservation.
• 2026-09-01 to 2026-11-30: West Lake autumn traffic management on weekends and public holidays, 08:00–17:00: odd/even number plates for cars, taxi and ride-hail drop-offs only at designated points.

Why go

The Gushan branch (孤山馆区) is the original campus of the Zhejiang Provincial Museum, set among courtyards on Gushan beside the Baidi Causeway. It combines a main building of permanent galleries, the Zhejiang West Lake Art Museum for rotating exhibitions, and Wenlan Pavilion, a Qing-dynasty library built for the Siku Quanshu. Entry is free. The Gushan site is much smaller than the Zhijiang branch across town.

What to do

• Wenlan Pavilion courtyard. Walk the courtyard of Wenlan Pavilion, one of seven imperial libraries built for the Siku Quanshu and the only survivor of the three in Jiangnan. A pond with scholar’s rocks and an imperial stele pavilion front the two-storey building.
• West Lake Art Museum shows. The Zhejiang West Lake Art Museum on the same campus holds rotating exhibitions, free to enter with ID.
• Huang Binhong and Sha Menghai sites. Two small sites belong to the Gushan group: the Huang Binhong memorial room and the former residence of the calligrapher Sha Menghai.
• Main-building galleries (closed for upgrading in 2026). The main building holds themed permanent galleries, among them lacquerware and relics from the Leifeng Pagoda site. The museum has closed them for upgrading and has not given a reopening date, so check its WeChat notices before you plan around them.
• A lakeside walk afterwards. Pinghu Qiuyue and the Baidi Causeway are steps from the gate, and the Xiling Seal Society is close by on Gushan.

• Don't miss: The pond court of Wenlan Pavilion, with its rocks and imperial stele pavilion.

• Best time: Start at 09:00; last entry is 16:30
• Skip if: You want the full provincial history galleries and the big blockbuster exhibitions; go to the Zhijiang branch instead.

Practical details

• Hours: 09:00–17:00 Tue–Sun · closed Mon
• Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun: 09:00–17:00, last entry 16:30
• Usually closed: Mon
• If a Monday falls on a public holiday the museum stays open and the closure moves to the first day after the holiday.
• Admission: Free; bring ID
• Free: All visitors to the Gushan galleries and exhibitions (ID card, social-security card or permanent-resident card, or a passport reservation)
• The Zhijiang branch charges for some special exhibitions; the Gushan branch shows free exhibitions only.
• Booking: Chinese ID: no booking · Passport: book online first
• Yunshang Zhebo (云上浙博) — WeChat → search 云上浙博 mini-program → visit reservation · passport: yes
• Gushan entrance consultation desk (孤山馆区入口人工咨询台)
• Passport accepted: yes — Foreign visitors can enter a passport on the 云上浙博 mini-program (notice of 12 July 2024). The card-reader gate itself is described only for Chinese ID, social-security cards and permanent-resident cards.
• The answer depends on your document. With a Chinese ID card, social-security card or permanent-resident card you need no booking and swipe at the gate. Foreign visitors must first enter their passport on the 云上浙博 mini-program (museum notice of 12 July 2024); the card-reader gate itself is described only for Chinese documents. Whether the Gushan entrance desk can register a passport on the spot is not stated.
• Individuals swipe a Chinese ID card, social-security card or permanent-resident card at the gate; foreign visitors reserve with a passport on the 云上浙博 mini-program. Groups must register on the museum's portal site.
• A September 2026 Trip.com itinerary says advance booking is needed; the museum notice and Bendibao say individuals with Chinese documents do not need it.
• Last admission: Last entry 16:30
• Time to allow: 1–2.5 hr
• Getting there: Line 1 Longxiangqiao + bus 7 / WE1314
• Metro Line 1 to Longxiangqiao (龙翔桥), about 35 min walk
• Show a taxi driver: 杭州市西湖区孤山路25号 浙江省博物馆孤山馆区
• The museum is at 25 Gushan Road. The 35-minute figure is the walk from Longxiangqiao station, about 2.8 km; most visitors change to a bus or boat.
• Autumn weekends and holidays, September to November, 08:00–17:00: odd/even plate rule for cars, and no car park at the museum.
• Foreign visitors: Free; reserve with your passport online

Not found yet

• transport.metro[0].exit: The museum is a bus or boat transfer from the metro, and no source ties an exit to the gate. (searched: Hangzhou Bendibao, Hangzhou government English page, Trip.com Moments, Hangzhou city media, Xiaohongshu)
• foreignVisitors.foreignPhone: The museum notice does not say whether the 云上浙博 mini-program accepts an overseas phone number. (searched: museum WeChat notice, Hangzhou Bendibao, English travel sites, Xiaohongshu)

Traveler tips

• Foreign visitors: reserve with your passport on the mini-program; the gate scans a code if you have no ID. Entry to the Gushan branch is free and individuals do not need to book. Chinese visitors swipe an ID card or social-security card, and holders of the new foreign permanent-resident card swipe that card. Other foreign visitors enter their passport details in the 云上浙博 (Yunshang Zhebo) WeChat mini-program, reserve a visit, and show the reservation code at the gate. The Gushan entrance has a staffed consultation desk. At the Gushan branch gate, individual visitors swipe an ID card. A visitor who did not bring one says staff let them register at the entrance by scanning a code and enter free of charge. Foreign visitors with a passport are routed by the museum to the 云上浙博 mini-program, where the passport number is entered and checked on the day. Caveat: The museum notice is dated 12 July 2024 and Bendibao repeated it in October 2025. Neither says whether the mini-program accepts an overseas phone number. A Trip.com itinerary of September 2026 from a commercial account says advance booking is required for everyone; the museum notice and Bendibao say individuals do not need to book. The museum's own Xiaohongshu account (30 Aug 2025) repeats the rule after the 1 September 2025 change: individuals need no reservation, and visitors from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and abroad enter their ID or passport on the mini-program and are checked on the day. 我的昵称又又又被抢了 (26 Sep 2026) does not say whether a passport can be used at that code station; the museum's own Xiaohongshu notice (30 Aug 2025) lists only the Chinese ID, social-security card and permanent-resident card for the reader and sends foreign visitors to the mini-program. source
• The main building and Leifeng Pagoda hall are closed for upgrading. The permanent galleries in the main building and the Leifeng Pagoda relics hall are closed for upgrading, and no reopening date is given. The holiday notice lists the West Lake Art Museum, the Huang Binhong memorial room and the Sha Menghai former residence as open, and Wenlan Pavilion is not named in either notice. Caveat: The museum's notice of 10 August 2026 says the main-building galleries and the Leifeng Pagoda hall stay closed while the rest of the Gushan branch is open. Check the museum's WeChat account before planning a visit around the ceramics, lacquer or Leifeng Pagoda halls. Three visitors found the main building shut in September 2026 (雪夜踏雪, 16 Sep, who was told by staff that it had been closed for over a month; 风云, 12 Sep; 我的昵称又又又被抢了, 26 Sep). 我的昵称又又又被抢了 still saw a lacquer-craft display and the Xiling views in the other halls, and says the Gushan exhibits are fewer than before. The big paintings visitors expect (the Fuchun Mountains scroll and the Yue sword) are in the Zhijiang branch. (3 travelers) source
• Free Kazakhstan show in the West Lake Art Museum. The 'Silk Road Treasures: Nomadic Cultures of the Kazakh Steppe' show fills the Zhejiang West Lake Art Museum on the Gushan campus. It displays 279 objects, among them bronzes, gold ornaments, silks and coins, in five sections, and needs no reservation. Caveat: The run is given as 24 July to 11 October 2026. The sources do not name the next show. source
• If a Monday is a public holiday, the closed day moves to the day after. The museum is closed on Mondays. When a Monday falls on a public holiday it stays open, and the closure moves to the first day after the holiday. Caveat: From the museum notice of 12 July 2024; the 2026 holiday notice applied the same rule. source
• Know which branch you are going to. The museum has two main sites. The Gushan branch on West Lake is the older and smaller site. The Zhijiang branch is far larger, sits in the Zhijiang Cultural Center to the west on Metro Line 6, and hosts the paid or reservation-only special exhibitions. A 2024 blogger put the trip between the two at about 1.5 hours by public transport, so check the address before you set off. Caveat: The 1.5-hour figure is the blogger's estimate; the other sources give the exhibition split for autumn 2026 and the Line 6 station for Zhijiang. 沉静天空 (2 Aug 2025) recommends Gushan to pair with West Lake and Wenlan Pavilion and Zhijiang for the Zhejiang history gallery and the big jewellery and grotto shows; special exhibitions are usually separately ticketed. 雪夜踏雪 (16 Sep 2026) walked several kilometres for exhibits that are displayed at Zhijiang. (3 travelers) source
• Wenlan Pavilion is a courtyard to wander. Wenlan Pavilion (文澜阁) was built in the 1780s to hold a copy of the Complete Library of the Four Treasuries (Siku Quanshu) and is the only one of the three Jiangnan imperial libraries that survives. The books went to the Zhejiang Library in 1911, so you come for the pond with scholar's rocks, the imperial stele pavilion and the two-storey library building, not for shelves of books. Caveat: The Hangzhou English page gives both 1782 and 1784 for the building date. The 1911 transfer comes from the 2024 blog. 吴海海 (30 Jul 2025) walks the front rockery court with its moon terrace, the Immortal's Peak pool and the imperial stele pavilion; 德赛的文旅日记 (18 Dec 2025) notes the two-courtyard layout and that the present buildings date from 1983. (3 travelers) source
• English guiding costs 30 percent extra. Live guiding at the Gushan branch is by appointment: call the Gushan guide line, 0571-87960505, a week ahead. Chinese guiding for a group of 1 to 10 costs ¥160 an hour, and English guiding adds 30 percent, about ¥208 an hour. Cancel at least 24 hours ahead and arrive on time, because a guide is released after 15 minutes. Caveat: Fees are from the museum notice of 12 July 2024 and may have changed; the notice also lists fees for larger groups and says paid guiding can be adjusted or withdrawn. source
• No metro at the gate: Line 1 and bus 7 or WE1314. The museum is at 25 Gushan Road. Take Metro Line 1 to Longxiangqiao (龙翔桥) and change to bus 7 or WE1314, getting off at the Xinxin Hotel (新新饭店) stop, or take the lake boat to the Zhongshan Park pier (中山公园) and walk about five minutes. Walking from Broken Bridge along the Baidi Causeway takes roughly 15 to 20 minutes. Caveat: The Hangzhou English page (2016) says to take bus 7 to Broken Bridge and walk. The walk time is our estimate at 80 m a minute. The Xinxin Hotel stop comes from a Sep 2026 Trip.com post by a commercial account. 欣欣爸爸陪娃记 (23 Jan 2026) takes bus WE1314 to the Xiling Bridge stop, or bus 7, Y10 or Y6 to Xinxin Hotel or Geling and walks about three minutes; 我的昵称又又又被抢了 (26 Sep 2026) boards WE1314 at the Baidi stop outside. (2 travelers) source
• Autumn weekends and holidays: no car park, odd/even plates. From September to November, on weekends and public holidays between 08:00 and 17:00, cars in the West Lake area follow odd/even number-plate rules. The museum has no car park of its own, only public bays at the gate, so take the bus, the lake boat or a taxi to a designated drop-off point. Caveat: The autumn notice lists Beishan Street among the no-stopping roads for taxi drop-offs. source
• Pair it with the Xiling Seal Society and Pinghu Qiuyue. The Xiling Seal Society is close by on Gushan, and Pinghu Qiuyue lies at the east end of the island beside the Baidi Causeway. A common loop goes from the museum to Pinghu Qiuyue, along Baidi to Broken Bridge and back to the Hubin area. The Yue Fei Temple lies about 1.5 km west along Beishan Road. Caveat: The Yue Fei Temple distance is our estimate; the loop is from a September 2026 Trip.com itinerary. 欣欣爸爸陪娃记 (23 Jan 2026) strings a free Gushan walk from Xiling Bridge past the Seal Society, Zhongshan Park and the Gushan branch to Wenlan Pavilion, the West Lake Art Museum and Pinghu Qiuyue, suitable for children aged 3 and over. (2 travelers) source
• Typhoon alerts can close every museum at short notice. When Hangzhou raises a typhoon response, West Lake's parks and museums, including both sites of the Zhejiang Provincial Museum, can close within a day. In July and August 2026 the closures were announced a day or less ahead. Reopening is announced on the museum's WeChat account. Caveat: The 11 July notice names the Gushan branch; the 9 August notice covers all Hangzhou museums. source
• Stamps and the museum-passport booklet: free stamps by the shop entrance. Stamp collectors can get free ink stamps at the gift-shop entrance, beside the water dispenser, but only in a special stamp book sold there. A booklet called the museum passport (打卡护照) lists the ten best-known exhibits with a short explanation and helps you find the main pieces quickly. Special-exhibition stamps are charged with the exhibition. Caveat: This is the museum's own souvenir booklet, not a foreign passport; 我的昵称又又又被抢了 (26 Sep 2026) locates the free stamp, 沉静天空 (2 Aug 2025) says every shop has stamps and the special-exhibition stamps are nice, and momo晴天见 (17 Jun 2026) uses the booklet's top-ten list. (3 travelers) source

Sources

• 浙江省博物馆（官方微信公众号） (published 2024-07-12)
• 杭州本地宝 (published 2026-09-21)
• 杭州本地宝（腾讯新闻） (published 2026-09-22)
• 潮新闻（腾讯新闻） (published 2026-09-05)
• 浙江省博物馆（网易号） (published 2026-08-10)
• 杭州网 (published 2026-07-31)
• 杭州网（今日生活） (published 2026-07-11)
• 杭州网 (published 2026-08-09)
• 杭州本地宝 (published 2025-10-27)
• 杭州市人民政府（韵味杭州英文站） (published 2016-06-17)
• 杭州网 (published 2026-09-07)
• 獭的游乐场（腾讯新闻） (published 2024-10-14)
• Dragonfire3210000 (Trip.com Moments) (published 2026-09-21)
• 我的昵称又又又被抢了 (published 2026-09-26)
• 浙江省博物馆 (published 2025-08-30)
• momo晴天见 (published 2026-06-17)
• 沉静天空 (published 2025-08-02)
• 浙江省博物馆 (published 2026-08-10)
• 雪夜踏雪 (published 2026-09-16)
• 风云 (published 2026-09-12)
• 吴海海 (published 2025-07-30)
• 德赛的文旅日记（文献版） (published 2025-12-18)
• 欣欣爸爸陪娃记 (published 2026-01-23)

More places

• Pair with: Yue Fei Temple, West Lake
• More in Around West Lake: Leifeng Pagoda, Yue Fei Temple
• Book ahead: what to reserve before you go