The Earth Science Museum of Shijiazhuang University of Economics belongs to an academic institution museum.

The Earth Science Museum of Shijiazhuang University of Economics belongs to an academic institution museum.

The Earth Science Museum of Shijiazhuang University of Economics is an academic institution museum and one of the few natural science museums in Hebei Province.

The new building of the Earth Science Museum of Shijiazhuang University of Economics began construction in July 2006 and was completed in December 2006. It is situated on the main campus of the university at No. 136 Huai’an East Road. The building itself has a five-story frame structure, with a floor area of 3,080 square meters. Due to the large size of the dinosaur exhibits, the fourth and fifth floors are connected, with the fifth floor featuring a circular corridor.

The predecessor of Shijiazhuang University of Economics was Xuanhua Geological School, which was upgraded to Hebei Geological College in 1971, renamed Shijiazhuang University of Economics in 1996, and was formerly under the administration of the Ministry of Geology and Mineral Resources and the Ministry of Land and Resources. In 2000, it came under the management of Hebei Province. The predecessor of the Earth Science Museum of Shijiazhuang University of Economics was the Geological Exhibition Hall of Xuanhua Geological School, which opened in 1954. Its first director was Mr. Zhang Renjian, a returned scholar from the United States who had previously served as the head of the Henan Geological Survey before the liberation. At that time, the exhibition area was 400 square meters, with about 10,000 specimens in the collection. In 1956, the exhibition hall was managed by Huang Jingmin, and the display area was expanded to 800 square meters. In 1963, it was managed by Mao Pengfei. During the Cultural Revolution, the museum was forced to close, resulting in significant loss of specimens. In 1970, about 15,000 specimens were transferred from the geological warehouse of the Ministry of Geology. After Xuanhua Geological School was upgraded to Hebei Geological College in 1971, the Geological Exhibition Hall reopened to teachers and students and also offered free access to the public, receiving an average of about 5,000 elementary and middle school students per year. In 1987, Associate Professor Cui Mengling was appointed as the head of the Geological Hall. In 1988, the Geological Hall was renamed the Geological Museum of Hebei Geological College, and Associate Professor Xie Manze was appointed as its director. In 1990, the museum moved to the Shijiazhuang campus along with the school. In 1996, when the school was renamed, the museum became the Earth Science Museum of Shijiazhuang University of Economics, but due to space constraints, only a temporary exhibition hall of 300 square meters was set up. In 2001, Yang Jianping was appointed as the deputy director (no director was appointed) to oversee operations. In 2006, in preparation for the Ministry of Education’s undergraduate teaching evaluation, and to better showcase the university’s characteristics and protect precious dinosaur fossils, jewelry, jade, and rock and mineral specimens, the university decided to build a dedicated Earth Science Museum. From groundbreaking to the completion of the exhibition setup, it took only five months—an extraordinary feat in museum construction history.

The construction of the Earth Science Museum of Shijiazhuang University of Economics received kind attention and strong support from leaders at the national, provincial, and municipal levels, and involved significant effort from the university’s leadership and faculty and students. – The Premier gifted the school a set of mineral specimens he collected during his work in Gansu (Image 1 – gifted rock and mineral specimens). Vice Governor of Hebei Province Long Zhuangwei, Chairman of the Provincial Political Consultative Conference Liu Jiansheng, and other provincial leaders issued important directives regarding the museum’s construction and opening. During the construction and exhibition setup of the new museum, the efforts of many top scholars and experts from various fields across the country were pooled. Professor Du Rulin, who won the highest award in the field of geology—the Li Siguang Geological Science Award—made contributions to the study of Precambrian strata and paleontology for China and even all of humanity. He not only donated a large number of precious specimens he personally collected and preserved, but also personally presided over the construction and exhibition setup of the Universe and Earth Hall despite being 77 years old. Professor Pang Qiqing, a National Outstanding Teacher and an expert under the administration of Hebei Province who enjoys a special government allowance from the State Council, conducted in-depth research on terrestrial Mesozoic and Cenozoic strata and microfossil ostracods in China. He was the first to systematically summarize the characteristics, distribution, and succession patterns of ostracods in six northern provinces (municipalities), filling a gap in fossil research in the region. In 1993, he won the Hebei Science and Technology Progress First Prize. He oversaw the construction and exhibition setup of the Dinosaur and Paleontology Hall. Many of the dinosaur exhibits in this hall were excavated under his direct guidance by his students. Professor Niu Shuyin, a Distinguished Teaching Expert in Hebei Province and Dean of the School of Resources who enjoys a special government allowance from the State Council, is well-known in China’s mineral exploration field. He oversaw the construction and exhibition setup of the rock display area in the Rocks and Minerals Hall and the mineral resource display area in the Gems and Mineral Resources Hall. Professor Wang Lisheng, a board member of the China Jewelry & Jade Association, Director of the Gemstone Professional Committee of the Hebei Geological Society, and Dean of the School of Gemstone and Materials Engineering, oversaw the construction and exhibition setup of the mineral display area in the Rocks and Minerals Hall and the jewelry and gemstone display area in the Gems and Mineral Resources Hall. He extensively networked, collected, and personally appraised jewelry, jade, and mineral specimens, gathering a large number of precious and rare collections for the gem and mineral exhibition areas.

Based on the distribution of its floors, the Earth Science Museum of Shijiazhuang University of Economics has four permanent exhibition halls. The first floor is the Universe and Earth Hall, focusing on the origin and composition of the universe and Earth. The second floor is the Rocks and Minerals Hall, displaying specimens of the three major rock types and minerals. The third floor is the Gems and Mineral Resources Hall, mainly showcasing natural jewelry and jade, synthetic gems, and various mineral resources. The fourth and fifth floors are the Dinosaur and Paleontology Hall, featuring skeletons of nine dinosaurs and exhibits related to the origin, classification, characteristics, evolution, and extinction of dinosaurs, as well as rare fossils representing various stages of the origin of life and biological evolution.

The Universe and Earth Hall showcases the origin and composition of the universe and Earth, as well as the internal and external dynamic geological processes of the Earth. Upon entering the main hall, exhibits cover the origin of the universe, the composition of the solar system, the origin of the Earth and Moon, the Earth’s layered structure, physical properties, age, and evolution. The east side of the hall primarily introduces internal dynamic geological processes—such as seismic activity, magmatic activity, orogeny, and plate tectonics. The west side mainly covers external dynamic geological processes—such as weathering, erosion, transportation, and sedimentation. This hall displays 35 models and 53 images.

The Rocks and Minerals Hall mainly exhibits rock and mineral specimens. Rock specimens are displayed according to the three major rock types: igneous rocks, sedimentary rocks, and metamorphic rocks. Mineral specimens are categorized by chemical composition and crystal structure into five major groups: native elements, sulfides and similar compounds, oxides and hydroxides, oxygen-containing salts, and halides. The mineral specimens are arranged according to these categories. This hall displays a total of 1,071 rock and mineral specimens and 100 images.

The Gems and Mineral Resources Hall mainly exhibits jewelry, jade, and mineral resource specimens. The north section of the hall displays jewelry and jade specimens. Jewelry and jade refer to both natural gems and synthetic gems. Natural jewelry and jade are the essence of nature, including natural gemstones, natural jade, and natural organic gems. Synthetic gems are the crystallization of human wisdom, including synthetic gems, artificial gems, composite gems, and reconstructed gems. The jewelry and jade displays in this hall are arranged by category, with particularly valuable items such as diamonds, aquamarine, taaffeite, jadeite, Hetian jade, and water agate. These are enhanced with modern audiovisual effects such as lighting, rotating platforms, and electronic explanation screens, allowing visitors to better understand jewelry and jade knowledge and adding interest and educational value to the hall. The south section of the hall displays mineral resource specimens. Mineral resources are naturally enriched substances formed by geological processes in the Earth's crust and surface, which have development and utilization value under current economic and technical conditions, and are produced in solid, liquid, and gaseous forms. The hall features a dedicated mineral resource distribution wall, using indicator lights to show the distribution of major mineral resources in China. Pressing the corresponding buttons provides a clear overview of the distribution. This section displays specimens categorized by ferrous metals, non-ferrous metals, precious metals, non-metals, and energy minerals. This hall exhibits a total of 889 specimens and 115 images.

The fourth floor of the Dinosaur and Paleontology Hall showcases a newly discovered group of dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous period (96–65 million years ago) found, excavated, and studied by teachers and students of Shijiazhuang University of Economics. This represents an independent group achievement in scientific research and pioneers dinosaur research among similar universities in China. The exhibits include skeletons of nine dinosaurs: the Unusual Huabeisaurus, Yang’s Tianzhenosaurus, Cheng’s Tianzhenosaurus, Hu’s Tianzhenosaurus, Szechuanosaurus, Monolophosaurus, Mandschurosaurus, Psittacosaurus, and Tyrannosaurus rex—earning it the nickname “Hall of Nine Dragons.” Additionally, the hall displays over 4,000 dinosaur eggs, dinosaur footprints, and other dinosaur and reptile fossils, along with 63 images.

The fifth-floor paleontology exhibition area displays representative fossils from various stages of the origin of life and biological evolution, especially the highly precious fossils of the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota. These include invertebrates such as corals, brachiopods, mollusks, arthropods like trilobites, insects, phyllopods, shrimp, and crabs; vertebrates such as fish: sturgeon and knife fish; amphibians such as Callobatrachus and salamanders; reptiles such as turtles—Mandschurosaurus; choristoderes such as Hyphalosaurus; and particularly more than ten extremely rare small theropod, ornithischian, and bird-dinosaur fossils. There are also multiple Psittacosaurus and various bird fossils, including one Psittacosaurus nearly two meters long, which is extremely rare both domestically and internationally. Mammals include primitive species such as Zhangheotherium and Jeholodens. Additionally, the hall displays precious and highly valuable paleontological fossils such as the Triassic marine reptiles Keichousaurus and ichthyosaurs, as well as various ancient plants.

The Earth Science Museum of Shijiazhuang University of Economics currently houses a collection of over 20,000 specimens, with over 8,000 on display. Among them are many specimens that are extremely rare and precious both internationally and domestically. The sources of the collection mainly include specimens collected by faculty and students, donations from society, and gifts from alumni. The “Unusual Huabeisaurus” is 20 meters long, 4.2 meters tall at the back, 7.5 meters tall at the head, and weighs over 50 tons. This dinosaur was discovered in 1983 by Professor Pang Qiqing of our university and Researcher Cheng Zhengwu of the former Ministry of Geology and Mineral Resources Institute at the border of Yangyuan County in Hebei Province and Tianzhen County in Shanxi Province. After five years of painstaking excavation by teachers and students of Shijiazhuang University of Economics, over 70% well-preserved bones were recovered. It is not only a new genus, new species, and new family, but also the largest, latest, and most complete sauropod fossil discovered in China and even Asia from the Late Cretaceous period, making it a world-class treasure. The three aquamarine specimens displayed in the jewelry and jade section are exceptionally large, rare both domestically and internationally. The museum’s high-quality and rare gemstone, taaffeite, weighing 1.32 carats, is extremely precious. The 1:1 replicas of the world’s 100 famous diamonds have high ornamental and educational value.

The Earth Science Museum of Shijiazhuang University of Economics is one of the first ten youth science education bases in Shijiazhuang City, designated by the Shijiazhuang Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Shijiazhuang Municipal Government.

The Earth Science Museum of Shijiazhuang University of Economics has one deputy director (no director) overseeing operations.

The Earth Science Museum of Shijiazhuang University of Economics has comprehensive visitor service facilities. The second-floor exhibition hall has a small lounge, the fifth-floor exhibition hall has a video area playing educational documentaries, and the museum is equipped with an elevator.

Currently, the Earth Science Museum of Shijiazhuang University of Economics is open to faculty, students, and the public free of charge, and has welcomed approximately 45,000 visitors so far.

Full address: No. 136 Huai’an East Road, Shijiazhuang University of Economics, Shijiazhuang

Postal code: 050031

Phone number: Reception hall 0311—87207666