A private geological museum with a collection worth 600 million yuan is to open in Jiangmen's Jianghai District, which local officials hope will become a flagship science-tourism attraction for the western Pearl River Delta.
The Jinshan Geological Museum will occupy about 52,500 square meters of leased space, with a total planned investment of 650 million yuan. The vast majority of that, 600 million yuan, is earmarked for the collection itself.
Organizers say the museum will use digital immersive technology and interactive exhibits to build a high-quality science education and cultural tourism experience, filling a gap in the district's upmarket science-tourism offerings.
Its collections focus on the geological evolution of the Lingnan region, with exhibits on dinosaur fossils, prehistoric giant apes and the origins of modern humans in southern China. Its parent museum holds more than 30,000 specimens, including palaeontological fossils, minerals and gemstones, most of them unearthed locally.
The museum chain was founded in Hunan Province in 1999. It describes itself as China's first private geological museum and has operated free of charge since 2000. It now runs six branches across Hunan and Guangdong.
Author | Feng Huiting
Photos | Nanfang Plus
