Opening Time: 9:00 - 16:30, Tuesdays to Sundays

Admission Fee: 20 RMB for adult, half price for children above 1.2 m

Founded by and affiliated to the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, the Paleozoological Museum of China is a natural science museum that is exclusively devoted to systematically popularizing the knowledge of paleontology and the theory of evolution. It is also the largest specialized museum in Asia for the topic of the evolution of vertebrate animals.

The museum is divided into two sub-museums: the Museum of Vertebrate Paleontology and the Shu-hua Museum of Paleoanthropology. The former includes three exhibit halls: Fossil Fish and Amphibian Hall, Fossil Reptile and Bird Hall and Fossil Mammal Hall. The Museum’s 1,000 plus exhibited items represent a wide spectrum of vertebrate fossils from jawless fish to humans and their artifacts, spanning from Cambrian (530 million years ago) to Prehistoric time (10,000 years ago). Among the museum’s proud exhibited items are Latimeria, a “living fossil” lobe-finned fish and a gift from Africa; Caudipteryx, a dinosaur with real feathers; Confuciusornis, the earliest beaked bird ever found in the world; Stegodon zdanski, commonly known as “The Yellow River elephant”, and the skull models of the mysterious “Peking Man”.

The museum also has extended educational programs for school children through “Young Darwin Club” and provides the participants with the opportunities to field excursions, fossil collecting and preparations, cast making as well as special workshops. The museum has also equipped with multimedia and interactive games for children and adults.

Add: Paleozoological Museum of China, No. 142, Xizhimenwai St., Xicheng District, Beijing (西城区西直门外大街142号)

source: paleozoo.cn