Geological Museum of China

Founded in 1916, the Geological Museums of China is the national geological museum with the longest history in China. More than 200,000 collections covering all sectors of geoscience crown the reputation of the Museum. The fossil collections unveil the mystery of prehistoric life. Dinosaur fossils, including Shantungosaurus giganteus and Sinosauropteryx, present a picture of wild beasts in ancient forest. Hominid fossils of Peking Man, Yuanmou Man, Shandingdong Man and other hominid picture the life of hominid. The museums also accommodate rare ancient paleontological fossils of fishes, birds, insects and other prehistoric life which hold value to scientific investigation and are worthy of appreciation. Various typical Chinese mineral specimens, such as the largest crystalon Earth, "King of Crystal", giant fluorite-calcite druse, exquisite azurite, cinnabar, realgar, orpiment, scheelite, and stibnite, and diverse precious stones reputed as "national treasures”, like gem and jade, shine with the beauty of nature and the luxuriant mineral wealth.

Consisting of 6 exhibition halls, involving the Earth Hall, the Mineral Hall, the Gemstone Hall, and the Prehistoric Creature Hall, the Geological Museum of China covers an area of 2500sqm in addition to temporary exhibition zones of 1500 sqm. The Museum has possessed more than 120,000 geological specimens, covering 13,000 prehistoric creatures, 21,000 strata, 10,000 mineral, 6,000-plus rocks, 1,000-plus gemstones, 33,000 mineral deposits, 1,000-plus geological phenomena, massive geodes and others. The achingly rare Shantungosaurus giganteus, King of Crystal, and fossils of primitive birds that were unearthed in the west of Liaoning Province stand out among the numerous exhibits.