Culture

Hangzhou has a profound and long cultural history. Ever since the late Neolithic Period, the area has seen unique and colorful Liangzhu, Wuyue, Southern Song and Ming-Qing cultures.

Hangzhou has a few museums that represent the Chinese culture, including China Tea Museum, China silk Museum, Chinese Liangzhu Culture Museum, Southern Song Official Kiln Museum and Hu qingyu Traditional Medicine Museum. They are unique and well known.

Yue Opera

Yue Opera is the chief local opera in Hangzhou. It originated in Shaoxing area, near Hangzhou, which belonged to the Yue State in ancient times. The opera, therefore, was popularly known as Yue Opera. Yue Opera has a history of about 90 years and has become one of the four major operas in China, with a national renown second only to Peking Opera.

Yue Opera was derived from a kind of story-singing. At first, it was performed with a small drum and hardwood clappers for rhythm and later, choral and orchestral accompaniment was added.

The opera is noted for its lyricism, and singing is dominant in it. Its tunes are sweet and beautiful and the performance vivid and full of local color.

Folk Custom

China is the country of tea and Hangzhou is the birthplace of tea. The Dragon Well green tea from Hangzhou, with a history of more than 1,200 years and ranked at the top of the major 10 famous teas in China, is the very best of teas, once used as a tribute for emperors.

The Dragon Well green tea is rare for its pretty color, sweet scent, mellow taste and nice shape. Such famous tea should be accompanied by good water. Hence a saying goes like this "Dragon Well tea goes with the Running Tiger water". Running Tiger refers to the famous Running Tiger Spring, located in Hangzhou as well. The tea and the water are regarded as a pair in producing the best of tea drink and are two excellencies representative of Hangzhou.

Arts and Crafts

Reputed as the "Silk City" in China, Hangzhou has various traditional arts and crafts, including silk, brocades, silk umbrellas, fans, scissors and laceworks.

The city has turned a few streets into a "Silk City", lined with rows after rows of shops selling silk and silk attires.