Photo adjustments
Full frame retained; proportionally resized and converted to WebP. No retouching or changes to the photographed subject. Card displays may crop the view.
Explore the region
About Zhejiang Museum of Natural History
The entrance display brings together striking examples such as a grey whale skeleton, whale shark and crinoid fossils. Earth’s Life Story then places organisms in a much longer timescale, while Green Zhejiang turns attention to the local environment. This is the West Lake Cultural Square branch; the institution’s Anji museum is a separate visit with a different layout.
The museum traces to the West Lake Museum (西湖博物馆), founded in 1929, which was renamed Zhejiang Museum (浙江博物馆) in 1953. In July 1984 its natural history section became an independent institution, the Zhejiang Museum of Natural History. A building on Jiaogong Road (教工路) opened in 1998, and the museum moved to West Lake Cultural Square in 2009. It was renamed Zhejiang Museum of Natural History (浙江自然博物院) in August 2018, and an Anji (安吉) branch opened in December 2018.
The Hangzhou building covers a floor area of 26,000 square meters, with 9,000 square meters of permanent exhibition halls, 2,500 square meters of temporary halls and 5,000 square meters of storage. Displays are organized into three main sections, including the Rich and Strange Biological World alongside Earth's Life Story and Green Zhejiang, and annual visitor capacity rose to more than 1 million from about 150,000 at the former site.
The museum holds nearly 130,000 specimens, with a stated aim of raising public scientific literacy and awareness of ecological and environmental protection through education, research, cultural exchange and leisure activity. In 2012 it was certified by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (国家文物局) as a national first-grade museum (国家一级博物馆), one of the second batch of institutions nationwide to receive that designation.
What to look for
- The entrance specimen display, including a grey whale skeleton and crinoid fossils.
- Earth’s Life Story and Green Zhejiang, linking deep time with the province’s ecology.
Location & getting there
Getting to Zhejiang Museum of Natural History
Use the Hangzhou museum at No 6 West Lake Cultural Square. West Lake Cultural Square metro station is the approach to this central-city branch; specify Hangzhou rather than the separate Anji museum.
Combine your visit
A suggested sequence linking the specific features of this visit.
-
Entrance specimen display
Compare the scale and forms of the large specimens.
-
Earth’s Life Story
Put the fossil and animal displays into their evolutionary sequence.
-
Green Zhejiang
Return to the ecosystems and environmental themes of the province.
This order is editorial. Confirm access and any transfers between stops; it does not establish a walking route, same-day connection or common admission ticket.
Find Zhejiang Museum of Natural History
浙江自然博物院杭州馆 · 拱墅区
The pin marks the area, not the entrance.
More places nearby
Approximate straight-line distances between map pins, not travel distances.
Baochu Pagoda 保俶塔
2 km awayBaochu Pagoda makes a slender landmark above the north side of West Lake. The present brick-and-stone tower follows a 1933 rebuilding and has no internal staircase, so the visit centres on its exterior and the paths of Baoshi…
View guide →Lingering Snow on Broken Bridge 断桥残雪
2 km awayBroken Bridge joins Beishan Road to the eastern end of Bai Causeway. The bridge is intact; its name belongs to a group of stories and winter views rather than a missing span. The present bridge dates to a twentieth-century…
View guide →Baopu Taoist Temple 抱朴道院
3 km awayBaopu Taoist Temple occupies the slope of Geling above West Lake’s north shore. Yellow walls, tiled roofs and stepped approaches give the complex a recognisable hillside character. The main Gexian Hall honours Ge Hong, while…
View guide →Sources & visit information
The sources below support the place-specific description and arrival information. Suggested combinations are editorial planning ideas; confirm current opening, entry arrangements and transport services for your date.
Visitor information adapted and edited from Wikipedia contributors, “浙江自然博物院” · CC BY-SA 4.0. Source revision 93925525.
Visitor information adapted and edited from Wikivoyage contributors, listing “Zhejiang Museum of Natural History” · CC BY-SA 4.0.
Background paragraphs translated and condensed from Wikipedia contributors, "浙江自然博物院", Chinese Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0. Source revision 93925525.