Suzhou is not only a garden city; it is also the capital of silk. In the Tang and Song dynasties, Suzhou was the undisputed silk center; and in the Ming and Qing dynasties, the imperial high-quality silk was in the main produced by Suzhou’s weavers.
Suzhou Silk Museum was built with the intention of preserving Suzhou’s silk culture and heritage, and was opened to public in 1991. The building complex itself reflects the theme of silk, with the whiteness of the building resembling the original colour of silk. The museum consists of ancient, modern and contemporary halls. The Ancient hall presents the history of silk production from the Neolithic Age to the Ming and Qing dynasties through models and pictures. The Modern and contemporary halls mainly display the production and weaving processes, silk celebrities and silk products that have won international prizes.
