Tianjin Natural History Museum

Tianjin Natural History Museum

The Tianjin Natural History Museum serves as both a science education base and a patriotic education base.

The Tianjin Natural History Museum features a spacious layout with three floors, including permanent exhibition areas, temporary exhibition halls, interactive entertainment zones, and science education sections. The museum houses numerous exhibits. As you enter the exhibition area, you’ll first see a grand mural showcasing the evolution of life, while the central hall displays a massive pair of "mother and child" Shandong dragon skeletons that instantly transport you into the realm of natural legends. On the left side of the lobby is China’s first live butterfly garden within a museum, where you can not only admire a kaleidoscope of live butterflies fluttering about but also observe the fascinating metamorphosis from caterpillar to beautiful butterfly—truly experiencing the magic of "metamorphosis."

The most unmissable section is the third-floor exhibition hall, which displays 300 precious specimens of wildlife from around the world, including treasured Chinese animal specimens such as the golden snub-nosed monkey, giant panda, takin, and crested ibis—collectively known as the "Four Treasures of Qinling."

The new building of the Tianjin Natural History Museum is located in the Tianjin Cultural Center. The predecessor of the Tianjin Natural History Museum was the Beijiang Museum, which was established in 1914 and renamed in 1957. In 1997, the Tianjin Municipal People's Government funded the reconstruction of the museum, which reopened in 1998. The original museum occupied 50,000 square meters, with a total construction area of 35,000 square meters and an exhibition area of 14,000 square meters. It includes four sections: permanent exhibitions, temporary exhibitions, interactive entertainment, and science education. The museum houses 400,000 biological specimens, including 1,282 first- and second-class treasures and 1,452 type specimens. The new museum’s exhibitions are themed around “Home,” making it the first in China to present a thematic, panoramic exploration of natural history through science experiences and education.

The predecessor of the Tianjin Natural History Museum was the Beijiang Museum, initially called the Huanghe-Baihe Museum. It was founded by French Jesuit and zoology doctor Émile Licent (1876–1952), known in Chinese as Sang Zhihua, who came to China in 1914 to establish it. Sang Zhihua worked in China for 25 years (1914–1938), conducting surveys across the vast regions of the Yellow River and Hai River basins, focusing on human geography, geology, meteorology, and flora and fauna. Covering approximately 50,000 kilometers, he collected over 200,000 specimens of paleontology, animals, plants, ancient humans, and minerals. Notably, the completeness and richness of animal fossils from four areas—Qingyang in Gansu, Yushe in Shanxi, Nihewan in Hebei, and Salawusu in Inner Mongolia—are rare even globally.

In 1922, with funding from the French Catholic Church, the first office building (the North Building) of the Beijiang Museum was constructed. In 1925, the exhibition hall was built adjacent to the office building, opening to the public in May 1928. In 1929, the specimen storage building (the South Building) was erected and completed in 1930, forming the iconic H-shaped structure of the Beijiang Museum. Under the direct leadership of Director Sang Zhihua, by 1937, the museum had become world-renowned.

In 1937, the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War led to the Japanese occupation of most of northeastern, northern, and eastern China, forcing Sang Zhihua to halt his fieldwork. In 1938, when the Japanese occupied Tianjin, Sang Zhihua returned to France, and the Beijiang Museum largely ceased its excavation and research activities. From 1938 to 1949, the museum remained in a caretaker state.

In February 1951, the Beijiang Museum was placed under the management of the private Jinwu University. In September 1951, the Tianjin Municipal Propaganda Department took over the museum. In June 1952, the Tianjin Municipal People's Government approved the establishment of the preparatory committee for the Tianjin People's Science Museum based on the Beijiang Museum, and the museum was officially founded in November 1952. In June 1957, it was renamed the Tianjin Natural History Museum. In 1959, the exhibitions and offices were relocated to No. 272 Machang Road, Hexi District (formerly the stables of the British racecourse). That same year, Guo Moruo, then Vice Premier of the State Council, Director of the Cultural and Educational Commission, and President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, inscribed the museum’s name. In August 1968, the Tianjin History Museum, Tianjin Art Museum, and Tianjin Natural History Museum merged to form the Tianjin Museum. In December 1973, the individual museums were reinstated, and in January 1974, the museum was renamed the Tianjin Natural History Museum. In 1975, the exhibition halls were renovated on the original site and reopened in 1978.

In 1997, the Tianjin Municipal Government funded the reconstruction of the Tianjin Natural History Museum on its original site, reopening in 1998. The new museum covers 20,000 square meters with a construction area of 12,000 square meters, consisting of four functional areas: exhibition halls, specimen storage, operational facilities, and a botanical garden. The main building, designed in the shape of a "seashell embracing a pearl," symbolizes the museum as a pearl on the shores of the Bohai Sea.

In 2013, with strong support from the municipal government, the renovation of the new Tianjin Natural History Museum was listed as one of the “20 People’s Livelihood Projects of Tianjin.” In 2014, the newly renovated museum opened to the public at its new location in the Tianjin Cultural Center, within the former site of the Tianjin Museum. The new exhibitions are themed around “Home,” making it the first in China to present a thematic, panoramic exploration of natural history through science experiences and education.

Suggested Visit Duration

1.5–2.5 hours

Transportation

Take bus routes 662, 668, 686, 835, 868, 912, 529, 641, 675, 800, 826, 838, 906, or 655 to the Bin Guan Nan Dao Station or Tianjin Museum Station.

Ticket Information

Admission is free. On the day of your visit, tickets are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis by time slot upon presentation of valid ID (one ticket per ID; minors may have their tickets collected by guardians; tickets are valid for the day of issue).

Valid IDs include: ID card, driver’s license, passport, household registration book, military officer card, soldier card, and school ID cards for elementary and middle school students.

Opening Hours

9:00–16:30 (last admission at 16:00), closed on Mondays except for national holidays.

Location

No. 31 Youyi Road, Hexi District, Tianjin (near Tianjin Museum, Pingjiang Road)

Further Reading:

· National First-Class Museum of China