As a Westerner, China tends to be a footnote in the school curriculum, even more so Chinese prehistory. Prehistory in my school meant Egypt and Mesopotamia, ... but very little is said and written about China. I probably learnt more on Chinese history in Kung Fu movies than in school.

So, it was a welcome stop to visit a prehistoric site in China, Liangzhu. To this day, the greater Yangtze River Delta to which Liangzhu belongs is a huge economic and population center. And it was so already 5000 years ago as evidenced by the immense size of the archeological site. The Chinese have done a good job of presenting the site with plenty sign posts (some in English) and small expositions scattered around the site. Most memorable parts to me were the palace hill, the pillars, and the cemetery.

Getting There

Liangzhu (the modern town) is a suburb of Hangzhou and you can get there by metro. However, from the subway station it's another 8km to the actual site, so you need to catch a bus. The bus station is well signposted in the metro station (Southern exit, I think Exit D). When I arrived, there was only one bus waiting and it was the right one. topchinatravel.com lists provides a comprehensive list of all bus lines that go to the site.

The bus will first pass the Liangzhu Museum (not part of the site). You have to stay on the bus till you see the big Unesco logo. Note: Don't trust google maps. It had me misplaced by 500m and only by looking out of the bus window did I get the right exit.

On my return, I jumped another bus. However, the bus did not go to the metro station. I managed to get back to Hangzhou, but going back to the metro station would have been easier and faster.

Practicalities

Best innovation on park facilities was the entry ticket that looked like a passport. Great idea. Would be nice to get stamps for each visited site.

As pointed out by Shandos, the Chinese have made a great effort of making the site accessible. There are facilities scattered in the park and you can catch a shuttle to cover some of the distances. Coming in off season the facilities seemed way too big. It was only me and a single school class. But it seems that the Chinese are planning with a substantial uptick in visitors.

While You Are There

A visit to the West Lake is a must. From Hangzhou you can explore several other sites of the area via bullet train.