China is the birthplace of tea with the longest history of tea culture. Today tea culture is a bright pearl in traditional Oriental culture. The National Tea Museum was opened in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province in 1991. It is located in Longjing (Dragon Well) Village, west of charming West Lake, and covers an area of 22,000 square meters (about 5.4 acres) with a 3500 square meter (about 0.9 acres) construction area.

This museum is the only one in China with the tea theme. The museum has no external walls but is enclosed by vegetation giving the unique impression that the halls and the tea in the museum depend upon each other. Additionally, one hundred distinctive Chinese characters relating to tea are enchased in the road to add color to your trip.

The museum is comprised of four groups of buildings which display the history and development of tea in China. The exhibition building is divided into six halls to show the history of growing and processing tea in China. They are the Hall of Tea History, the Kaleidoscope Hall, the Hall of Tea Properties, the Tea-friendship Hall, the Tea Sets Hall, and the Tea Customs Hall. Here, different halls illuminate different aspects of tea and its culture in China’s long history. The Tea Customs Hall is recommended. Here visitors can discover the great impact of tea on the lives of various Chinese minority groups. The Kaleidoscope Hall features more than three hundred kinds of tea, including the six basic types of tea in China including some reprocessed teas. To learn more about these kinds of tea, take a digital earphone prepared by the museum.

Besides functioning as a museum, here is also a research institution which often holds conferences on tea and its culture. This work has received much attention from government as well as other sectors of society. In the museum, visitors also have opportunities to see a tea art performance and drink teas in a calm and quiet place.