Zhejiang Provincial Museum, formerly known as the West Lake Museum, was built in 1929. Situated at the southern foot of the Solitary Hill, it affords a picturesque lake view.
　　Part of the former site of Zhejiang Provincial Museum is the temporary imperial palace in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and the famous Wenlan Pavilion (Library of Literary Upsurge) in the south of the Yangtze River. After reconstruction and expansion in 1993, the new Museum, occupying 20,400 square meters, has additional ten halls exhibiting Cultural Relics, Celadon Wares, Paintings & Calligraphy, Coins,Arts and Crafts Souvenirs, Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Objects of Lasting Interest respectively and two new art galleries: Art Gallery of Lu Xiaguang and Art Gallery of Chang Shuhong. All the halls are laid out in a pattern of “halls in the gardens and gardens among the halls” with corridors connecting pavilions and towers, a characterized construction of the regions in the south of Yangtze River. Blessed with a serene lake in front and a green hill at the back, this lakeside Museum has become a new cultural addition to Hangzhou.
　　Devoted to the collection, study and display of various objects, Zhejiang Provincial Museum is the most comprehensive on the humanity studies. Of over 100,000 treasured cultural relics, the world-famous ones are pottery and lacquer wares, wooden, bone and ivory objects dating from the Humudu Culture (5200 BC-4500 BC), jade articles and silk fabrics from the Liangzhu Culture, bronze wares from the State of Yue in the Warring States Period (475 BC--221 BC), celadon wares from the Yue Kiln, Longquan Kiln and the Imperial Kiln of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127--1279), the Guiji Mirror and the Huzhou Mirror as well as works of the calligraphers and artists of Zhejiang Province in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
　　At present, the Museum irregularly holds a variety of special exhibitions from home and abroad in the Exhibition Hall of Lasting Objects. Apart from the above exhibitions, the Museum has the Memorial Hall of Huang Binhong in Xixia Ridge and the Memorial Hall of Sha Menghai in Longyou Rd. In addition, Zhejiang West Lake Gallery, set up in 1999 has taken another course for its further development.
　　In recent years, the Museum has not only held a series of international academic seminars and several exhibitions in Germany, France, Japan and Singapore, etc. but also published many books on cultural relics, including the academic journal Dongfang Bowu 《Oriental Museology》and 《7000 Years of Zhejiang 》. The Museum now ranks among the noted museums both at home and abroad.