Běijīng Natural History Museum 自然博物馆
天桥南大街126号, 天坛西门的北边
Part of A Better Guide to Beijing’s coverage of South of Qián Mén
The museum is just north of the west entrance of the Temple of Heaven and became briefly notorious amongst budget travellers with a love of the ghoulish when it was discovered that the upper floors had pickled people’s parts of the kind usually only on show to those attending teaching hospitals in the rest of the world. These have now been removed from display, and the museum has been thoroughly revamped and modernised. Sadly this has also meant the departure of a small animatronic dinosaur that shouted for help in Mandarin while being eaten by a T. rex.
There’s little in English here, but there are displays on fish, animal, insect (some very creepy specimens), and plant evolution, and there’s a collection of stuffed creatures, including crocodiles, giraffes, zebras, and endless varieties of deer. A cinema shows 15-minute 3D natural history films at intervals during the day for an extra fee.
The dinosaur skeletons on the lower floors and displays on the Cretaceous are the high point, although those at the Paleozoological Museum of China are superior. The BBC wildlife DVDs for sale are the real thing (at ¥180) but are region code 6.
▶ Zìrán Bówùguǎn, Tiān Qiáo Nán Dàjiē 126, t 6702 4431, www.bmnh.org.cn, Tue–Sun, 9am–4pm. ¥10; free if booked in advance. b to 天坛西门 (Temple of Heaven west gate): 2, 特11, 17, 20, 专30, 35, 36环行, 69, 71, 93, 120, 504, 707, 729.
The west gate of the Temple of Heaven is just to the south. The Tiān Qiáo area west and north of the museum was once a lively but dubious entertainment and shopping area with food stalls and acrobatic street performers. Now the acrobatics and other street performances have gone indoors, and the prices have gone up (see An Early Bar Street).
Next in South of Qián Mén: Táorán Tíng Park
Previous: Altar of Agriculture
Main Index of A Better Guide to Beijing.
For discussion of China travel, see The Oriental-List.
