Shanghai Natural History Museum + Shanghai Museum East Hall 1- day tour Life Epic + Civilization Folding

▲ The exhibition of Shanghai Natural History Museum is based on the theme of "Nature, Human, and Harmony", with "evolution" as the main line. It starts from "process", "phenomenon", "mechanism" and "culture". There are ten permanent theme exhibition areas under the three major theme sections of "The Melody of Evolution", "The Picture of Life" and "The Epic of Civilization", which explain the various criss-crossing and complementary relationships in nature.

▲ "All things in the world come from existence, and existence comes from non-existence." The universe originated with the "Big Bang" approximately 13.8 billion years ago. Subsequently, numerous celestial bodies formed, and 4.6 billion years ago, our home, Earth, was born. Where did the universe come from? How big is it? What does its future hold? Where did the seeds of life originate? When did life first appear? Does extraterrestrial life exist? Humanity has relentlessly pursued clues to the origins of the universe and life, continuously proposing various theories and hypotheses, some proven, others disproven. The universe possesses unspoken beauty, and all things have their own logic, yet they are not explained. The "Mysteries of Origins" exhibition area leads us to follow in the footsteps of scientists in our search for answers.

▲ Did creatures unknown to us exist in bygone geological eras? How did species evolve into their present forms? How did ancient humans differ from those of today? How can we unlock the mysteries of evolution? Let's journey through the "Axis of Time" and explore the evolutionary process and understand the laws governing it!   The "Cambrian Explosion" ushered in the first bloom of life; the "From Water to Land" movement saw life gradually spread across land; the "Age of Dinosaurs" saw reptiles dominate the land, sea, and sky; the "Ancient Theriogens" saw mammals emerge onto the evolutionary stage; and the "From Ape to Man" movement reveals the increasingly clear path of human evolution.

▲ Life—a great miracle in Earth's history—has experienced the ups and downs of gestation, mutation, prosperity, and decline, repeating itself endlessly. Some groups flourished only to become extinct, frozen in fossils; others, unknown and unknown, have survived the vicissitudes of life and continue to thrive. Whether dead or alive, tiny or vast, they are all witnesses to the long river of life. The "River of Life" exhibition area brings together both once-prominent travelers and living biological "stars." Here, let us gaze upon the tiny waves of history, experience individual lives vastly different from our own, and comprehend the true meaning of nature.

▲ The museum's treasures: giant Mamenchisaurus fossils, mammoth skeletons and other paleontological specimens, combined with sound and light technology to restore ancient ecological scenes.

▲ Think about this: What different types of dinosaurs can be found in the museum? Why were dinosaurs so large? Why did they disappear? Are mammoths the ancestors of elephants? Why is trafficking in ivory illegal? What is the difference between humans and animals? Is human evolution still ongoing? What are casts and fossil specimens? Find real specimens.

▲ Why do we say that life came from the ocean? What is the evidence?

▲ Shanghai Museum East Building: ‌Span of Time and Space‌: Over 500 carefully selected exhibits covering 3,600 years of bronze history from the Xia Dynasty to the late Qing Dynasty, with nearly 100 new artifacts on display. ‌Technology Empowered‌: X-ray CT scanning demonstrates the bronze casting process, and a dynamic demonstration of the "lost wax" restoration process is provided. ‌Systematic Comprehensiveness‌: A bronze museum dedicated to six periods of history: the nascent period (Xia Dynasty), the heyday (Shang and Zhou Dynasties), and the renewal period (Qin and Han Dynasties). ‌Treasure House of Inscriptions‌: 40% of the exhibits bear inscriptions, such as the 290-character Da Ke Ding and the 111-character Guo Ji Zi Bai Pan, providing valuable evidence of ancient rituals and social change.

▲ Xi Zun Based on its structure, it is a wine warmer, shaped like a water ox, with a hollow belly and three holes on its neck and back. A pot-shaped container sits in the middle hole, allowing wine to be poured out. The sides are hollow, and the lids have been lost. This zun was used to pour hot water, and was likely a wine warmer. • Using animal forms to design wine vessels is a characteristic of Chinese bronzeware. This vessel has a stable form. Despite its short legs, the powerful horns and wide-open eyes on the ox's head retain a sense of realism, harmoniously combining form and function. • The presence of a ring pierced through the ox's horn indicates that the practice of wearing horns to domesticate cattle began during the Spring and Autumn Period, making it a valuable artifact for studying the history of livestock domestication in China.

▲ Zi Zhong Jiang Plate (Spring and Autumn Period) A mechanical marvel: The three-dimensional water birds and frogs within the plate rotate 360°. Cast using the lost wax method, they rotate when struck by water.

▲ Shang Yang Fangsheng (Warring States Period) A unique example of reform: The inscription on the bottom, "In the eighteenth year, Qi led the nobles and officials to come to pay tribute," confirms Shang Yang's unification of weights and measures. This is the earliest extant standard measuring instrument.

▲ Ceramics Museum The tour follows a "Neolithic Age - Han - Tang - Song - Yuan - Ming - Qing" itinerary, focusing on the five famous kilns and the Ming and Qing official kilns.