Beijing Museum of Natural History is located at 126, Tian Qiao Nan Street, Chong Wen District,
Beijing. It grew out of the preparation department of National Central Museum of Natural History founded in 1951, and the name was formally changed to Beijing Museum of Natural History in 1962. Being the first large-scale natural history museum founded on our own strength after new China was established, the museum supports three main functions: the specimen collection, academic research and science popularization of palaeontology, zoology, botany and anthropology. The museum today boasts rich collections, high-level research and ever-enlarging exhibitions. It is one of a few museums of natural history in China and named as National Youth Science and Technology Education Base. The museum owns a collection of more than 200,000 items, with the collections of palaeontology, ornithology, mammals and invertebrates growing steadily due to the increasing level of scientific research and display. The collections of the Museum include many extremely rare pieces, for example, the world-famous skull of Stegodon zdanskyi, the 26-meter-long Mamenchisaurus jingyanensis, and unique fossils of dinosaurs in China. The permanent exhibitions in the Beijing Museum of Natural History are mainly arranged according to the evolutionary trend of organisms, presenting a timeline of bio-diversity and the environment and establishing a panorama of the emergence and development of life on Earth. Having a floor space of 24,000 square meters, with more than 8000 square meters for display, Beijing Museum of Natural History is the most popular natural history museum in China.
Academic Communication
The museum always holds some academic communication activities and invites renowned experts and scholars to give lectures on their viewpoints on specific topics of natural science. These activities not only enliven the academic atmosphere and promote the development of the museum but also make it possible for our researchers to go abroad to communicate. The museum has held exhibitions abroad in many countries. These exhibitions, which not only displayed the abundance of animal resources and latest scientific production in China but also publicized the extensive culture and profound tradition of China, play an essential role as the folk ambassador at promoting the international friendship and communication of culture and technology. The exhibitions have ever gone to the following countries of Singapore, Malaysia, America, Sweden, Finland, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.