In a significant move, Hangzhou, situated in East China’s Zhejiang Province, is breaking the age-old global convention of museums remaining closed on Mondays. As part of an initiative to accommodate the burgeoning interest in museums, 52 municipal state-owned museums in Hangzhou have recently adjusted their opening hours, starting July 31. This notable shift was communicated through the official Wechat account of the Hangzhou Municipal Bureau of Landscape and Cultural Heritage.
While several museums across China, including the renowned Palace Museum and the National Museum of China, have made changes to their operational hours, Hangzhou stands out as the pioneer city that has taken a holistic approach. By adjusting hours at multiple levels throughout the city, it has taken the bold step of breaking away from the ingrained tradition of “closed on Monday.”
This progressive move is in line with the guidance issued by the National Cultural Heritage Administration on July 14, which encouraged key and popular venues to expand their opening hours based on situational needs, with the goal of catering to the public’s growing interest in museum visits.
The decision to classify Hangzhou’s museums into different categories stemmed from a combination of factors. Considerations included the operational needs of each museum, a preliminary survey of public opinion, daily financial requirements, venue size, and the count of cultural relics housed. The categorization resulted in a distribution where some museums are now open daily, some remain closed on Mondays, while others close on Tuesdays.
Highlighting this distribution, prominent institutions such as the Hangzhou Museum, Hangzhou Arts and Crafts Museum, and 15 others have opted for Tuesday closures. On the other hand, the Yue Fei Memorial Museum, The 1911 Revolution Museum, and a few others have chosen to open their doors every day. Nonetheless, a portion of the museums, predominantly the municipal state-owned ones, have retained the conventional Monday closures.
Chen Jiaoyan, a representative from the Communication and Education department of Hangzhou Museum, shared with the Global Times that the primary driver behind this reconfiguration was the rising public and tourist interest in Chinese culture and history. Chen noted that while many were unaware of this new schedule on its inaugural day, visitor numbers crossed the 4,000 mark by noon, an unexpected surge.
Though the “closed on Mondays” practice is deeply embedded in global perception, feedback suggests a mixed reception for this change. Chen emphasized their commitment to heed public feedback throughout the trial phase of these new timings.
The Hangzhou Museum is not only a repository of the region’s historical evolution and artifacts but also holds the esteemed distinction of being a national first-grade museum. It plays a pivotal role in promoting patriotic and general education in Zhejiang Province. A testament to its significance is the Warring States period crystal cup, a museum treasure, which was deemed so precious by the National Cultural Heritage Administration in 2002 that its exhibition abroad was prohibited.
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