Dinosaur Museum

» Zigong, Si Chuan

Dinosaur Museum Overview & Map Weather Transportation Information

Dinosaur Museum holds affiliated buildings, a green belt and halls which include a fossil burial hall, central hall, conference room, dinosaur ecological environment hall, and so on. With two floors and a basement, the huge rock cave-like museum exhibits dinosaur fossils, dinosaur site, plants and animals in the age of dinosaur, and rare species of dinosaurs.

Something about Zigong

Zigong is a famous city for salt production, but it is also an important dinosaur fossil region in China. As a famous saying goes, one finds a veritable nest of dinosaurs at Zigong. There are more than forty locations within the city at which dinosaur fossils from different eras have been found. A very considerable amount of fossilized dinosaurs has been excavated here and other vertebrate fossils have been found as well at the same sites.

Basic knowledge about the museum

Located near the Prefecture-level city of Zigong in the smaller township of Dashanpu, is Dinosaur Museum. The museum covers 25,000 square meters with a display area of 3,600 square meters.

The museum sits on top of a large concentration of Dinosaur fossils-both in terms of quantity but also of diversity. The remains are from a layer called the Meso-Jurassic period. Because of the unique and intact bone remains, Zigong has ever since been attracting paleontologists and dinosaur enthusiasts from around the world.

In 1980s, vast dinosaur fossils were excavated in the Dashanpu Formation, 7 kilometers north-east from downtown Zigong, including a dinosaur named after the township, Dashanpusaurus. In 1987, the Zigong Dinosaur Museum was established, becoming the first specialized dinosaur museum open in Asia. Mounted specimens include Omeisaurus, Gigantspinosaurus, Yangchuanosaurus, Huayangosaurus and Xiaosaurus.

What to see

The contents of the museum can be categorized into three parts.

Part 1

The first part focuses on introducing basic knowledge concerning dinosaurs, such as the evolution of current animals and creatures, fossils, the various geological eras, and the development and types of dinosaurs.

Part 2

The second part introduces all of the various types of dinosaur fossils found in Da Shanpu. The entire exhibition is displayed in a high and spacious hall. Here there are several completely intact skeletons of dinosaurs from the era. In a large space, viewers can see dinosaurs that stand 10 meters high and are 20 meters long, as well as tiny dinosaurs.

Dashanpu

The concentration of buried fossil remains at Zigong is greatest at Dashanpu. A great quantity and diversity of types is found here, including specimens that are quite rare and relatively well preserved.

This place is eleven kilometers to the northeast of Zigong City. It was discovered in 1972. The fossils are in a sandy layer of the Meso-Jurassic period, from around 160,000,000 years ago. In an area of around 3,000 square meters, more than 100 individual dinosaurs have been excavated, among which some thirty are complete or relatively complete dinosaur skeletons. Especially valuable is a group of dinosaur skulls.

At present, only around twenty percent of excavated dinosaurs in the world belong to the Jurassic period, and most of these are from the late Jurassic, lacking the early and middle stages that show how dinosaurs evolved. At Zigong, especially at Dashanpu, the fossils come mostly from the early and middle periods, so that this provides extremely valuable material.

Part 3

The third part describes the site of the dinosaur fossils in an exhibition area of 1000 square meters. This has dinosaur bones in their original setting. This allows tourists to see an actual excavation site. You can look down from a railing above, but can also go down into an underground room and touch the fossils of ancient life, see the circumstances of the layers and the ores, understand the wonders and marvels of the creations of nature.

Mysterious ambience

Passing through the museum, you will enjoy its mysterious ambience taking you to the world of more than 100 million years ago.

Attractions around » Zigong, Si Chuan

Cultural Site

• Dinosaur Museum
• Salt History Museum

Dinosaur Museum Highlights

Museum in Great China

• Forbidden City
• Terracotta Warriors and Horses
• Shaanxi Provincial History Museum
• Sanxingdui Ruins
• Dunhuang Museum
• National Museum of China
• Shanghai Museum
• Weijin Art Gallery
• Gansu Provincial Museum
• Xi'an Banpo Museum
• Dinosaur Museum
• Han Yang Ling Museum
• Forest of Stone Steles Museum
• Tibet Museum
• Jingdezhen Ceramic History Museum
• Dongba Museum
• Chongqing Three Gorges Museum
• Hubei Provincial Museum
• Shanghai History Museum
• Great Wall Museum
• Memorial Hall to the Victims in the Nanjing Massacre
• Han Dynasty Tomb Museum
• Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall
• Xianyang Museum
• Shandong Provincial Museum
• Nanjing Museum
• Meteorite Museum
• Salt History Museum
• Inner Mongolia Museum
• Hunan Provincial Museum
• National Tea Museum
• China National Silk Museum
• Museum of Traditional Chinese Medicine
• Luoyang Museum
• Chen Family Temple

Dinosaur Museum FAQ & Travelers's Tips

  Weather

1. The land and climate of Sichuan diverse a lot

  Shopping

1. Best souvenirs

  Customs

1. Folk Customs

  Other Hints

1. Be careful of Mountain Sickness
2. Emergency numbers
3. Warning from the earthquake
4. Take care of yourself on altitude place

• The land and climate of Sichuan diverse a lot

  Sichuan is bordered by the Tibetan Plateau in the west and by the Three Gorges and the Yangtze River in the east.

  The eastern part of the Sichuan basin is ringed by lofty mountains and experiences a subtropical and humid climate.

  The western part is considered the highland area and experiences frequent fog with intense sunlight, but low temperatures.

  The annual rainfall in this province is 1000 millimeters and the average annual temperature is 16.5 C.

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• Best souvenirs

  Near Chengdu is Emei City. There you can buy one of the best tea of China. The jasmine tea, a kind of the green tea is scented by flowers during the night.

  Come back to your country with some packs of tea. The China will stay in your mind when you smell the perfume of jasmine flowers.

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• Be careful of Mountain Sickness

  If you go to Huanglong valley, 155 miles away from Chengdu, please take the altitude into consideration.

  For most travellers can not resist the appealing of Huanglong Temple on the summit and the most beautiful five color pool at its back. It really deserves for a bight-yellow temple atop surrounded by mountains creat a harmony between the temple and the nature. But remember the Huanglong Temple is over 3300 meters above the sea level.

  Mountain sickness would be a problem for some people.

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• Folk Customs

  As one of the largest provinces, Sichuan has more than 15 minority ethnic groups living side by side with the Han people.

  Among these are the Yi, Hui, Quian, Tibetan and Miao people. Each of these minorities has its own charm, ethnic style and folk customs.

  Each of the minorities also has its own festivals. Some of the local festivals are; the Leshan Giant Buddha International Tourist Festival, Southland Ice and Snow Festival, Liangshan Yi Ethnic Minority Torch Festival and Zigong Lantern Festival.

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• Emergency numbers

  Ambulance: 120
  Emergencies: 110
  Fire: 119
  Tel No. Enquiry: 114
  Police: 110

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• Warning from the earthquake

  Sichuan suffered a catastrophic earthquake on May 12, 2008 centered on Wenchuan County, about 100km north of Chengdu city. Many cities have been nearly completaly destroyed and over 80,000 people are dead or missing with hundreds of thousands more injured or homeless.

  There have been many smaller quakes in the following weeks. As of late May, these are still continuing.

  There is also tension in Western Sichuan between the Chinese government and the mainly Tibetan people there and travel restrictions may apply to this area.

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• Take care of yourselfon altitude place

  In many of Sichuan's main attractions are located at altitudes above 3,000 meters and thus altitude sickness is a threat.

  Make sure to monitor your own health and take it easy for a day or two if your moving from the low lands to higher elevations.

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