Paleontology in China
China is one of the world's most important sources of fossils.
Museums
East China
- 1 Nanjing Museum of Paleontology (南京古生物博物馆) (Nanjing, Jiangsu Province).
North China
- 2 Beijing Museum of Natural History (自然博物馆; Zìránbówùguǎn) (Chongwen District, Beijing). Large museum with a lot of information on nature, but some of the exhibitions are a bit old fashioned. The paleontology section includes a major collection of dinosaur fossils and skeletons.
- 3 Paleozoological Museum of China (中国古动物馆) (Xicheng District, Beijing).
- 4 Shandong Tianyu Natural History Museum (山东省天宇自然博物馆) (Linyi, Shandong Province). Enormous museum of natural history built by a local billionaire to house his enormous personal collection of fossils and minerals. The museum holds the Guinness World Record for largest dinosaur museum in the world and there are numerous Guinness World Record awarded items inside, usually for being the largest.
- 5 Yushe Fossil Museum (榆社县化石博物馆) (Jinzhong, Shanxi Province).
Northeast China
- 6 Daqing Museum (大庆市博物馆) (Daqing, Heilongjiang Province). More than just a regional museum, the Daqing Museum is renowned for its large collection of Quaternary fossils. In total, the museum has over 100,000 fossils from 43 different species, including two fully complete mammoth skeletons.
- 7 Paleontological Museum of Liaoning (辽宁古生物博物馆) (Shenyang, Liaoning Province). Said to be the largest paleontological museum in China. Maintains a huge collection of fossils.
- 8 Sino-German Paleontological Museum (中德古生物博物馆) (Jinzhou, Liaoning Province). Established in 2008 by a German fossil collector in collaboration with the government of Yi County. The museum is at the site where a dinosaur species known as bolong yixianensis was first discovered. A large fossil of bolong yixianensis is on display along with other fossils found in the area. Outside the museum is an excavation site and a petrified forest.
- 9 Yanji Dinosaur Museum (延吉恐龙博物馆) (Yanji, Jilin Province). Opened in 2021, this is one of China's newest dinosaur museums and the first one to be built in Jilin Province. The museum, showcases the many dinosaur fossils that were accidently uncovered by construction workers in Yanji in 2016.
- 10 Yizhou Fossil Museum (宜州化石馆) (Jinzhou, Liaoning Province). The Yizhou Fossil Museum was the first paleontological museum to be established in Liaoning Province following the discovery of fossils in the region in the 1990s. It is now an official branch of the Geological Museum of China. The museum has about 10,000 fossils in its collection, including around 200 that are considered to be of high value and importance.
South China
- 11 Heyuan Dinosaur Museum (河源恐龙博物馆) (Heyuan, Guangdong Province). A small museum with a lot of dinosaur eggs.
Southwest China
- 12 Lufeng Dinosaur Museum (禄丰恐龙博物馆) (Lufeng, Yunnan Province). Displays dinosaur fossils collected from various sites in Lufeng, including specimens of species that were first identified in Lufeng such as the Lufengosaurus.
- 13 Yuanmou Man Museum (元谋人博物馆) (Yuanmou, Yunnan Province).
- 14 Zigong Dinosaur Museum (自贡恐龙博物馆) (Zigong, Sichuan Province). Located on top of the Dashanpu Formation, China's most famous dinosaur fossil site, where hundreds of dinosaur fossils have been found since the 1970s. The museum was the first museum in China to be devoted exclusively to dinosaurs. Besides the usual displays, one can also view an excavation pit where fossils have been unearthed.
Sites
- 1 Chaoyang Bird Fossil National Geopark (朝阳鸟化石国家地质公园; Cháoyáng Niǎohuàshí Guójiādìzhìgōngyuán) (Chaoyang, Liaoning Province). On this site during the 1990s, fossils were found that revolutionised human understanding of dinosaurs and the evolution of birds. In Chaoyang, they found feathered dinosaurs as well as some of the earliest examples of birds.
- 2 Guanling Fossil Group National Geopark (关岭化石群国家地质公园) (Anshun, Guizhou Province). Centered around a geological formation known as the Guanling Formation, which is notable for its Triassic fossils. A number of these fossils are displayed at an on-site museum. The museum includes three excavation pits where you can see fossils in situ. There is even a site where visitors are permitted to dig for fossils on their own (though whether you would be allowed to keep them and take them out of the country is another matter).
- 3 Laiyang Cretaceous National Geopark (莱阳白垩纪国家地质公园) (Laiyang, Shandong Province). A park rich in fossil deposits from the Cretaceous Period. Major attractions at the park include a large fossil museum, a garden comprised of petrified wood collected from around the world, and an excavation pit where a complete skeleton of a dinosaur species known as Tsintaosaurus spinorhinus was discovered in 1951.
- 4 Lantian Man Site (蓝田猿人遗址) (Xi'an, Shaanxi Province). In 1964, at this site in Lantian County, Xi'an, the cranium of a hominid was discovered. The discovery came just one year after a mandible belonging to a similar individual had been found in another part of the county. The two individuals were later classified as belonging to a subspecies of Homo erectus known as Homo erectus lantianensis or Lantian Man. A small museum at the site displays both the cranium and the mandible, as well as a collection of stone tools and animal fossils, which were also found in the area.
- 5 Maotianshan Shales (帽天山页岩, 澄江化石地 Chengjiang Fossil Site) (Chengjiang, Yunnan Province). A world heritage listed site rich in fossils from the Cambrian Period. Some of the fossils are displayed at an on-site museum. The rest can be seen at a much larger museum located about 8km from the site.
- 6 Qinglong Mountain Dinosaur Egg Fossil Group National Nature Reserve (青龙山恐龙蛋化石群国家级自然保护区) (Shiyan, Hubei Province). Thousands of fossilized dinosaur eggs dating from the late Cretaceous Period have been unearthed here since the 1990s. The eggs are displayed at an on-site museum.
- 7 World Dinosaur Valley (世界恐龙谷) (Lufeng, Yunnan Province). World Dinosaur Valley is divided into three parts: a hot springs resort, a geological park and a dinosaur-themed amusement park. The geological park is probably the biggest drawcard. It includes a major fossil site where the remains of a huge number of dinosaur skeletons have been discovered. Around 60 of the dinosaur skeletons are on display at a museum built at the site.
- 8 Zhoukoudian Peking Man Site (周口店北京人遗址) (Fangshan District, Beijing). A UNESCO World Heritage Site and landmark site in paleoanthropology. The site is comprised of the caves of the Peking Man evacuation and a nearby museum containing plaster casts of the recovered skulls, mandibles, facial bones, limbs, and teeth. Peking Man is actually a collection of fossils of around 40 individuals of the species Homo erectus, dated from 770,000 to 230,000 years ago.
The Peking Man fossils stored in Beijing disappeared in 1941 during the Second Sino-Japanese War. The missing fossils are one of the "long-standing mysteries in the history of human evolution.".
See also
