Viewing geological treasures,
Learning about the evolution of life
Shandong Tianyu Museum of Nature
The Shandong Tianyu Museum of Nature, located in Pingyi County, Shandong Province, China, is a large museum specializing in the natural world and popular science. The museum, which opened in 2004, boasts a floor area of 32,000 sq m (345,000 sq ft), holds display areas totaling 28,000 sq m (301,000 sq ft), and contains a scientific research center, a 4D cinema and 28 exhibition halls.
With its wide and varied collection, the Tianyu Museum has drawn considerable attention from within China – and from abroad. The museum houses 1,106 dinosaur specimens and thousands of other ancient fossils. This wealth of material has led two institutes from the Chinese Academy of Sciences – the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology, and the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing – to establish scientific research centres at the Tianyu Museum.
In addition to its six Guinness World Records titles, the museum has published more than ten research articles in top international scientific journals such as Nature and Science. Among these, papers on the dinosaur Tianyulong confuciusornis and on the development of early feathers readily captured the world’s attention when they appeared in print.
Step into the mineral specimen exhibition halls and view a variety of original mineral crystals; these delightful specimens preserve millions of years of the Earth’s history in a concrete form. You will be astonished by the magical wonders of nature: the largest amethyst geode, and largest scheelite and turquoise specimens; a splendid tourmaline chosen in 2006 as one of the Annual Best Ten Mineral Specimens in the world by the European magazine Mineral Jewel Specimens; a coruscating 338.6-carat diamond, regarded as the largest in China’s recorded history; crystals from Uruguay and Brazil, aquamarines from Pakistan, emeralds from Columbia, apophyllites from India; and many more. These rare original gem stones embody the essence of the universe, shining with colors and lights, can only be described as amazing and breathtaking.
Entering the world of paleontology in the Tianyu museum, you will be shocked again and again by the clear renderings in stone of creatures that lived millions of years ago. Look out for…
Learning about the evolution of life
Shandong Tianyu Museum of Nature
The Shandong Tianyu Museum of Nature, located in Pingyi County, Shandong Province, China, is a large museum specializing in the natural world and popular science. The museum, which opened in 2004, boasts a floor area of 32,000 sq m (345,000 sq ft), holds display areas totaling 28,000 sq m (301,000 sq ft), and contains a scientific research center, a 4D cinema and 28 exhibition halls.
With its wide and varied collection, the Tianyu Museum has drawn considerable attention from within China – and from abroad. The museum houses 1,106 dinosaur specimens and thousands of other ancient fossils. This wealth of material has led two institutes from the Chinese Academy of Sciences – the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology, and the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing – to establish scientific research centres at the Tianyu Museum.
In addition to its six Guinness World Records titles, the museum has published more than ten research articles in top international scientific journals such as Nature and Science. Among these, papers on the dinosaur Tianyulong confuciusornis and on the development of early feathers readily captured the world’s attention when they appeared in print.
Step into the mineral specimen exhibition halls and view a variety of original mineral crystals; these delightful specimens preserve millions of years of the Earth’s history in a concrete form. You will be astonished by the magical wonders of nature: the largest amethyst geode, and largest scheelite and turquoise specimens; a splendid tourmaline chosen in 2006 as one of the Annual Best Ten Mineral Specimens in the world by the European magazine Mineral Jewel Specimens; a coruscating 338.6-carat diamond, regarded as the largest in China’s recorded history; crystals from Uruguay and Brazil, aquamarines from Pakistan, emeralds from Columbia, apophyllites from India; and many more. These rare original gem stones embody the essence of the universe, shining with colors and lights, can only be described as amazing and breathtaking.
Entering the world of paleontology in the Tianyu museum, you will be shocked again and again by the clear renderings in stone of creatures that lived millions of years ago. Look out for…
• the longest piece of silicified wood and the largest specimen of the dinosaur Sinosauropteryx, both official Guinness World Records titles;
• many kinds of marine reptiles that lived 200 million years ago, including ichthyosaurs that once dominated the seas and now appear as vivid figures on thousands of stone slabs of different sizes and shapes;
• beautiful and mystic fossil crinoids, each one a “stone picture and natural sculpture” that stands out like a miracle among animal fossils;
• Mesozoic dinosaur and bird fossils that reveal the wondrous origin of birds – about 120 million years ago – and the extinction of the dinosaurs;
• groups of docile deer and fierce-looking rhinoceros that wandered 18 million years ago on vast stretches of grassland only to be overtaken by a change in the order of nature and end up in the exhibition halls;
• thousands of small fish that have struggled on the surfaces of stone slabs for 120 million years, but will never recover the freedom and happiness they enjoyed in the water;
• traces of life that may be tiny as the egg of a worm, light as a single feather, or slim as the vein of a leaf, all there to be found in the unique and mysterious world of fossils.
The collections of the Tianyu Museum are not only “a book of ten thousand volumes” describing life and nature, but also a valuable reference for human beings seeking to understand the past history of life and the future of the universe. Tianyu Museum offers a scientific platform for researchers and explorers and a key that will open the gates of science and knowledge to those who love nature and treasure lives.
