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96.The Tianjin Natural History Museum has becomean important base to cultivate the awareness ofenvironmental and ecological protection
http://www.tj-summerdavos.cn    2008-09-22 13:51

As China’s oldest museum of natural science,Tianjin Natural History Museum has beenadhering to the principle of public welfare inthe past years and has been making use of theadvantages of materials and personnel in themuseum to develop diversified science educationactivities for the majority of young people.Since opening to the public 10 years ago, ithas received more than 2 million visitors andbecome a popular science educational basefor patriotism education, which combines thefunctions of collection, research, outreacheducation, and tourism.

Tianjin Natural History Museum is one of thefew Chinese comprehensive museums thatconsist of animals, plants, paleontology, geology,and other subjects. The number of collectionsin the museum reaches to 400 thousand,among which there are 1,282 pieces of treasuresof first-level and second-level as well as1,452 pieces of specimens. It mainly collectsnatural sciences specimens in Northwest Chinaand North China as well as representative andtypical natural sciences specimens at homeand abroad. Tianjin Natural History Museumranks the first in similar museums because ofits long history, rich collections, and outstandingresearch achievements.

The predecessor of the nearly 100-year-oldTianjin Natural History Museum is the NorthernMuseum which was founded in 1914 andrenamed as Tianjin Natural History Museum in1957. In 1997, the Tianjin Municipal Governmentinvested and renovated the Natural History Museumand re-opened it to public in 1998.

The new museum occupies 20,000 square meterswith construction area of 12,000 squaremeters. It consists of four functional areas: galleries,library collections, business premises,the Botanical Garden. The main building withthe shape of “seashells with beads” implicatesthat Tianjin Natural History Museum is a pearlon the coast of the Bohai Sea.

As a popular science educational base and animportant window for the building of spiritualcivilization, Tianjin Natural History Museum adheresto the principle of public welfare and opensthe basic display to the public all year round.

Tianjin Natural History Museum organizes agroup of full-time and part-time workers whohave professional knowledge on explanation,reception and counseling, as well as more than100 volunteers ranging from primary schoolstudents to 80-year-old senior people. Theyhave done a lot of work on collecting, explanationand other services in the past years.

Built and opened in 2004, Tianjin “OceanWorld” fills the blank of large aquarium in Tianjin.The education of “Ocean and Environment”held in Tianjin Natural History Museum, waswelcomed by the majority of the visitors.

The Museum operated in a flexible way to letthe museum known by the community. Duringthe last five years, the roving exhibitionhad attracted audience of more than 2 million,and toured more than 100 exhibition venuesall around China. In 2005, “The exhibition supermarket”program won the first prize of outstandingpopular science activities in Tianjin.

As one of first batch of national-level museums,the Tianjin Natural History Museum is activein research activities. During recent 10 years, ithas assumed a number of national, provincialand ministerial-level scientific research projects.The fossils of Microraptor gui and NewSpecies of D.paradoxus were published in theEnglish magazine NATURE. It published Floraof Tianjin to fill the blank of flora monographin Tianjin. In addition, it published GeneralKnowledge of Tianjin · Birds to fill the blank ofbirds monograph in Tianjin.


From:Enorth.com.cn    Editor: Zhao Jing
 
Preparatory & Coordination Committee of Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2008