Established in 1960, Suzhou Museum is a comprehensive local museum and serves as the central hub for the collection, protection, research, display, and education of Suzhou’s cultural relics. Located at No. 399 Changjiang Road, High-Tech Zone, Suzhou Museum West Pavilion covers an area of 48,365 square meters with an exhibition space of 13,391 square meters, showcasing over 2,100 sets of artifacts, including precious relics such as the Sword of King Yu of Wu, the Gold Script on Blue Paper ‘Lotus Sutra’, and the Jun Kiln Drum Leg Wash. It began its trial operation on September 25, 2021. The West Pavilion features various exhibition areas such as the General History Exhibition Hall, Suzhou Crafts Exhibition Hall, and Multimedia Exhibition Hall, comprehensively displaying the long-standing history and characteristic crafts of Wu region from the perspectives of culture, arts, Suzhou craftsmanship, and Suzhou lifestyle. Based on the foundation of Jiangnan culture, the museum also has an International Cooperation Hall, collaborating with renowned museums worldwide to actively explore the connection and integration of diverse world cultures. With a greater emphasis on the educational function of the museum, the West Pavilion has made a pioneering attempt to set up an Exploration Experience Hall within a domestic comprehensive local museum, creating a museum school for young audiences in China, allowing them to understand Suzhou and view the world through open, interactive, and exploratory experiences. The General History Exhibition Hall is located on the first floor of the Suzhou Museum West Pavilion, with an exhibition area of 2,280 square meters and a total exhibition line length of 360 meters, displaying over 1,200 sets of artifacts, with more than 150 key artifacts. The exhibition starts from three dimensions – city, history, and people, using space, historical facts, and figures as clues, and time as the sequence, to showcase the history of Suzhou from the Paleolithic Age on San Shan Island to the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution, spanning ten thousand years. The Suzhou Crafts Exhibition Hall is located on the second floor of the Suzhou Museum West Pavilion, with an exhibition area of 2,280 square meters, displaying Suzhou craftsmanship masterpieces from the Song and Yuan dynasties to the modern era over a thousand years. The exhibition displays 900 sets of artifacts, with 150 key artifacts, including traditional crafts such as jade carving, bamboo carving, Suzhou embroidery, and Taohua Wu woodblock New Year paintings. The exhibition aims to reveal the brilliant achievements of Suzhou craftsmanship and its key role in the development of Chinese traditional culture and art. The International Cooperation Hall is located on the second floor of the Suzhou Museum West Pavilion, with an exhibition area of 1,037 square meters, focusing on the main thread of world civilization history, and is committed to enhancing the international vision of the Suzhou Museum West Pavilion. By cooperating with world-renowned museums to hold exhibitions, it provides visitors with an experience of seeing the world without leaving Suzhou. The Multimedia Exhibition Hall is located on the underground first floor of the Suzhou Museum West Pavilion, with an exhibition area of about 540 square meters, including three areas: Su Color Life Digital Hall, Audio-Visual Room, and Derivative Product Space.
The Digital Hall of Suzhou Lifestyle, themed ‘Suzhou Lifestyle’, focuses on the aesthetic of Suzhou life under the twenty-four solar terms. It uses the traditional culture and aesthetic of life in Suzhou as the basis for color extraction. Through the display on digital media screens, it creates an immersive digital color synesthesia space scene, presenting to the audience the life in Suzhou under one solar term, one season, and one day and night. The Exploration Experience Hall is located on the basement level of the Suzhou Museum West Pavilion, with an exhibition area of 4501 square meters. It adopts a ‘thematic’ teaching and exhibition combination approach, focusing on the comprehensive development of children aged 3-12. The hall integrates exhibition and educational spaces, stimulating the imagination and creativity of young visitors through interactive experiences between exhibitions and education, providing them with a dedicated space to explore, learn, and unleash their imagination. Opening hours: The museum is closed all day on Mondays throughout the year. It is open from 09:00 to 17:00 from Tuesdays to Sundays all year round. During National Day, it is open from 09:00 to 20:00.
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