Hidden Gem by West Lake! Journey Through Millennia at the Free Gushan Museum, Accessible by Subway

Hangzhou has hidden a museum amidst the picturesque West Lake landscape! The Gushan Museum boasts stunning lake views and free access to treasures from the Leifeng Pagoda crypt. Discover the cultural side of Hangzhou with this insider's guide. **Must-Do Trio** ✅ **Leifeng Pagoda Secrets**: The gilded bronze Buddha statues in the crypt exhibition "speak." Scan the QR code to activate the AR guide and learn how the Ashoka Pagoda was excavated. ✅ **Live Guqin Performance**: Every Tuesday at 10:00 a.m., a non-heritage inheritor plays a thousand-year-old Tang Dynasty guqin, its sound resonating through the display cases. ✅ **Lakeside Study Room**: Copy scriptures in the bamboo pavilion of Wenlange (paper and ink provided) while overlooking mandarin ducks frolicking on West Lake. **Hidden Gems** 🔍 Find the electronic pen next to the remnant scroll of *Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains* and create your own AI-generated landscape painting with a single stroke. 🔍 Stamp your "Wenlange Seal" at the exit. Collect three stamps to redeem a West Lake Ten Scenes bookmark. 🔍 The path behind the museum leads to Fanghè Pavilion, where Lin Bu's plum trees, where he once raised cranes, still bloom. **Things to Note** ⚠️ Closed on Mondays! Weekday afternoons are quiet enough to hear the artifacts "breathe." ⚠️ Don't drive! Take Subway Line 1 to Longxiangqiao Station and transfer to bus WE1314. ⚠️ The museum has no air conditioning. Bring a small fan in the summer. Last week, I encountered a guide dressed in Song Dynasty Hanfu. She revealed that poems by Emperor Qianlong are hidden on the beams and pillars of Wenlange. As the setting sun streamed through the carved window lattice onto the celadon porcelain, I suddenly understood why even squirrels love to eavesdrop here—every artifact is steeped in the moonlight of West Lake, aged to perfection over a thousand years. **Culture Tip** 📍 Adjacent to Xiling Seal Society (a 5-minute walk to the Four Great Pavilions) 🕒 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m., last entry at 4:30 p.m. 📸 Wear New Chinese Style clothing! The black tiles and white walls will automatically enhance your scholarly aesthetic.