Beijing, 2019-18: Museum of Paleontology

The Beijing Zoo was so so so packed on the day of my planned visit that you couldn't see the ticket office that I eschewed my desire to view pandas and Pere David's deer that I went with my Plan B, which was the Paleontological Museum across the street. That's the museum in the foreground and the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences behind it.


The museum is quite well-done, though it lacks much in the way of English, starting with a neat sculpture garden:


I love those water spouts.

One of things that impressed me most was the purely scientific approach to human origins: it is evolution straightforwardly, with no wheedling nods to Creationism or Intelligent Design. There is some debate on this, but supposedly that's Beijing Man at the bottom:


The museum covers the entirety of earth history, and attracts the entirety of the populace, young and old alike. I was enthralled to see even a very young docent leading a group tour, and doing so with confidence!


A few more displays:


And, finally, the piece de resistance of any paleontology museum, the dinosaur hall:


Rrroar!