The Beijing Museum of Natural History is located in the southern part of the city in the Tianqiao area. Neighboring both the Temple of Heaven World Heritage Site, and the modern Tianqiao Theater, it has a unique cultural atmosphere. Its predecessor, the Natural History Museum Central Preparatory Office was established in April 1951 and in 1962 was officially named the Beijing Museum of Natural History.

The Beijing Museum of Natural History was the first large-scale natural history museum the new Chinese nation built on its own. The collection’s pieces primarily deal with paleontology, animals, plants and anthropology, as well as displays of scientific research and educational displays.

The Natural History Museum itself covers 12,000 square meters. Its building is 24,000 square meters in size, which includes a meeting hall of 8,000 square meters. Many of the specimens are one-of-a-kind both in China and abroad. These include the world-famous ancient Yellow River skull-like fossil, the massive 26-meter-long Jingyan Mamenchisaurus fossil、China’s only mummified dinosaur fossil、and polar bear and rhinoceros specimens。

The Beijing Museum of Natural History’s basic organization is based on evolution，emphasizing biodiversity and the relationship between organisms and their environment，providing a panoramic picture of the story of life on our planet。The paleontology areas shows us an era of biological beginnings and early evolutionary processes. Through fossil imprints，we can almost see these long-extinct creatures. The remains of these animals lead us through time and space to glimpse prehistoric life；the plant specimens recount an epic green story，narrating their evolution through the ages.