Shanxi Museum of Geology

Shanxi Museum of Geology
山西地质博物馆

Address: 17 North section of Binhe West Road, Taiyuan city, Shanxi province
Hours: 9:00 am - 5:00 pm (no entry after 4:30 pm)
Closed on Mondays (except for national holidays), Chinese New Year's Eve, and from the 1st to the 10th day of the Chinese lunar year
General admission: Free (Valid certificate required for entry)
Tourist groups with more than 20 visitors are required to make an appointment two workdays in advance and get their tickets at the booking office.
Tel: (+86-351) -4069643
Email: sxgmuseum@163.com

The Shanxi Museum of Geology holds over 51,000 rocks, minerals and paleontology fossils from Shanxi province and abroad, including unique fossils of Shansisuchus and the Wang's crocodile.

Founded in 1958, the museum opened to the public for free on May 1, 2017.

Covering an area of 31,000 square meters, including 11,811 square meters of exhibition space, it adjoins Shanxi Museum and Taiyuan Library and is managed by the Shanxi provincial land and resources department.

The architectural design of the museum adopts the traditional Chinese concept of "round sky and square earth".

The lower part of the building resembles a treasure box made of natural boulders, while the oblate upper exhibition area symbolizes the endless flow of time, running and recycling along a closed loop.

The exhibition hall of the museum can be summarized as "one line and two points".

"One line" consists of four exhibition halls: "Beyond Time and Space", "Ancient Species", "Earth Treasure" and "Abundant Resources". These showrooms extend upward in a spiral shape, displaying the geological history, biological evolution and mineral resources of Shanxi province.

"Two Points" is composed of two parts: "Surveying and Mapping" and "Clothing of the Land", which show the development history and achievements of surveying and mapping in the province.

Most of the museum's paleontology collections were excavated in Shanxi province. They include stegosaurus and yungangosaurus fossils of Zuoyun county, the upper jaw and tooth bone fossils of Tyrannosaurus of Tianzhen county, the fossils of Shansisuchus and Wang’s crocodile of Ji county in Yushe county and the chilotherium fossil found in Xing county.

The Shansisuchus fossil is one of the most intact preserved treasures in the world, and has important scientific value for research into Sinokannemeyeria Fauna in China. The museum is also home to a 425-gram gold nugget, known as the "first native gold found in north China".