Beijing Museum Review: Beijing Museum of Natural History (北京自然博物館)

Photo of Guo's Calligraphy Displayed at His Former Residence in Beijing

Founded in 1951, the 24,000-square-meter Beijing Museum of Natural History (BMNH) is situated at Chongwen District (祟文區), housing over 200,000 specimen. This is a perfect spot if you want a break from all those traditional Chinese buildings and would like to spend an afternoon looking at something more universal, more natural, and a little bit Western. Primarily the architecture of BMNH is of classical Western style, with Guo Moruo's calligraphy at the main entrance.
A photo of the calligraphy could also be found at the Guo Moruo's Former Residence. The word "自然" refers to nature, whereas "博物館", museum - so there it is the name of BMNH "自然博物館".
The decor also displays the same style as its exterior, which goes well with the very good lighting in the lobby. On the walls of the lobby, there are oil paintings of important scientists like Darwin, as well as Chinese scientists. Science was not praised in ancient China as it is a domain regarding tools and how things work; traditionally, Chinese deem metaphysics to be the more important subject for exploration. That said, there were a number of historical figures who carried out scientific inquires to pursue the answer of how to make sense of the reality we perceive. 

Charles Darwin on the Wall

The specimen are arranged in different sections and not chronologically. For such a collection of historical specimen and models, a chronological arrangement in accordance with evolution would make much more sense. Indeed, the locations of the four halls - Paleontology, Zoology, Botany and Mankind Evolution - seem arbitrary which render visitors clueless as to where to go next. Except for "the Dinosaur World", the lighting of most sections is a bit dim as well. Some of the specimen arrangement are strange and unnatural: predators are at times placed next to their preys as if their relationship is commensal.