Suzhou Museum was established in 1960. It is a local comprehensive museum and also the center for the collection, protection, research, display and education of cultural relics in Suzhou. The Suzhou Museum West Branch is located at No. 399 Changjiang Road, High-tech Zone. It has a building area of 48,365 square meters and an exhibition area of 13,391 square meters. More than 2,100 pieces/sets of cultural relics are on display, including the sword of King Yueme of Wu, the golden sutra on blue paper “The Lotus Sutra of Wonderful Dharma”, and the Jun kiln tripod with drum nails for washing.
It began trial operation on September 25, 2021. The Suzhou Museum West Branch has multiple exhibition areas such as the General History Exhibition Hall, the Suzhou Craftsmanship Exhibition Hall, and the Multimedia Exhibition Hall. It comprehensively showcases the long history and characteristic crafts of Wu region from multiple aspects such as culture and art, Suzhou craftsmanship, and Suzhou-style life. Based on Jiangnan culture, the Suzhou Museum West Branch also specially sets up an International Cooperation Hall. It cooperates with world-renowned museums and actively explores the connection and integration of diverse cultures in the world. The Suzhou Museum West Branch pays more attention to and highlights the educational function of museums. For the first time, it attempts to set up an exploration and experience hall in a domestic local comprehensive museum to create a domestic museum school for young audiences. Let them understand Suzhou City and look at the world in an open, interactive and exploratory experience.The General History Exhibition Hall
The General History Exhibition Hall is located on the first floor of the Suzhou Museum West Branch. The exhibition hall area is 2,280 square meters. The total exhibition line is 360 meters. More than 1,200 pieces/sets of cultural relics are on display, including more than 150 key cultural relics/sets. The exhibition starts from three dimensions of city, history and people. Taking space, historical facts and people as clues and following the chronological order, it shows the history of Suzhou for ten thousand years from the Paleolithic Age on Sanshan Island to the outbreak of the 1911 Revolution.
The Suzhou Craftsmanship Exhibition Hall
The Suzhou Craftsmanship Exhibition Hall is located on the second floor of the Suzhou Museum West Branch. The exhibition hall area is 2,280 square meters. It displays the fine works of Suzhou craftsmanship from the Song and Yuan Dynasties to the present and contemporary times for a thousand years. The exhibition displays a total of 900 pieces/sets of cultural relics, including 150 key cultural relics/sets. It includes traditional crafts such as jade carving, bamboo carving, Suzhou embroidery, and Taohuawu New Year woodblock prints. The exhibition aims to reveal the glorious achievements of Suzhou craftsmanship and the key role of Suzhou craftsmanship and Suzhou-style culture in the development of Chinese traditional culture and art.
The Digital Hall of Suzhou Colorful Life takes ‘Suzhou Colorful Life’ as the theme. Guided by the aesthetic of life in Suzhou under the twenty-four solar terms and based on the aesthetic of traditional cultural life in Suzhou as the color extraction basis, through the display of digital media screens, it creates an immersive digital color synesthesia space scene, presenting the life of Suzhou in one solar term, one season, and one day and night for the audience.
The Exploration Experience Hall is located on the basement level of the West Hall of Suzhou Museum. The exhibition hall covers an area of 4,501 square meters. In a ‘thematic’ way that combines exhibitions and education, it focuses on the all-round development of children aged 3 to 12. It integrates the exhibition hall and educational space. Through interactive experiences of exhibitions and education, it stimulates the imagination and creativity of child audiences and provides them with an exclusive space to fully explore, learn, and unleash their imagination. Opening hours: Closed all day on Monday throughout the year; Open from 09:00 to 17:00 from Tuesday to Sunday throughout the year; Open from 09:00 to 20:00 on National Day.
