How time flies! Almost a century has passed since the West Lake Expo in 1929. That is the largest and most influential exposition in the modern history of China. It lasted for 137 days, with celebrities gathering together, and 20 million visitors, which reflected the momentum of the Chinese society, moving towards progress and becoming open to the outside world. Thus, Hangzhou has become the birthplace of China's convention and exhibition industry.

In 2000, the West Lake Expo was resumed in Hangzhou, which accorded with the features of the West Lake in 1929 with broad themes and specialized content. It displayed Hangzhou's humanism of elegance, harmony, grandeur, and openness, and became Hangzhou's "gold name card" which integrates exhibition, exchange, trade, research, discussion, tourism and cultural activities.

In order to commemorate the spectacular West Lake Expo in 1929, display Hangzhou's generosity and openness, and create a platform for the convention and exhibition industry in Hangzhou, West Lake Expo Museum was built on the original site of the industrial hall of the 1929 West Lake Expo. It has been open to the public during the whole year free of charge since December 1st, 2003.

Based on the exhibition of real objects, the museum also uses modern means for demonstration, including acoustics, images and videos. The museum is divided into three exhibition areas, namely World Expositions and the Chinese Society, the Unprecedented Grand Event ---- the West Lake Expo in 1929, and Gold Name Card. Exhibiting a great deal of precious historical materials and real objects on the development of China's convention and exhibition industry, especially the West Lake Expo, the museum is a window to publicize Hangzhou and the West Lake Expo, a place for studying the West Lake Expo and the development of China's convention and exhibition industry, and an education base for people to know more about the industrial progress and development in Hangzhou and Zhejiang as a whole.