Beijing Museum of Natural History, Natural history museum in Tiantan Subdistrict, China
The Beijing Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum in the Tiantan Subdistrict of Beijing, with galleries covering paleontology, zoology, botany, and anthropology. The collections hold around 200,000 scientific specimens spread across several exhibition floors.
The museum was founded in 1951 under the name Central Museum of Natural History, making it one of China's first scientific collections after the founding of the People's Republic. In 2023 it was renamed the National Natural History Museum of China, reflecting its new status as a national institution.
The museum sits close to the Temple of Heaven and draws many school groups and families who come to explore the natural world together. The exhibits are laid out so that visitors of all ages can get a close look at the objects on display.
The museum is easy to reach from Tianqiao metro station, and its location near the Temple of Heaven makes it simple to combine with a visit to the surrounding area. Weekdays tend to be less crowded than weekends, when many school groups and families arrive.
The paleontology galleries display complete skeletons of Mamenchisaurus, one of the longest dinosaurs ever found in Asia, giving visitors a rare chance to see these giants up close. Alongside them, the museum also shows remains of Paraceratherium, the largest land mammal known to have existed.
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