Embrace your inner geek at BJ's best natural history museums

No lab coats or science books required

Unleash your inner scientist and one of Beijing's best scientific and natural history museums, covering prehistoric times to now, with everything from the earth's smallest creatures to the universe's biggest stars on display.

The Geological Museum of China

With four floors of fossilised remains, precious stones and almost no tourists, the Geological Museum is a rare gem in itself. The 'scientific earth' room is full of interactive exhibits, including the chance to build your own earthquake-resistant tower. Meanwhile, the amethyst geodes provide the ‘minerals room’ with an ethereal air. With the English-language, amateur-friendly info boards, this is one for geology enthusiasts of all levels.

Don’t miss The dinosaur fossils dating back to the Jurassic period.

Estimated time One to two hours.

English provisions Translations are good and present throughout.

National Zoological Museum of China

On the Chinese Academy of Sciences campus, the Zoological Museum houses animal specimens from all corners of the world. Spiralling up through three storeys stuffed full of taxidermied land beasts and preserved marine animals, it all revolves around the museum’s centerpiece – an enormous whale skeleton suspended from the ceiling. Some of the actual taxidermy work is better than others (the hall on domestic pets might be scary for some). Standouts, however, include the first-storey collection of birds and the whole second storey, which is dedicated entirely to bugs. Fun fact we learned: there are more than 300,000 beetle species alone.

Don’t miss An incredibly beautiful and comprehensive collection of butterflies.

Estimated time One-and-a-half hours.

English provisions All signage is in Chinese but an English-language audio guide is available and informative.

Paleozoological Museum of China

One of the most notable paleontological museums in Asia, this place is packed to the rafters with dozens of dinosaur fossils – mostly from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Some of the larger creatures’ skeletons are reproductions but many are the real deal – including several complete skeletons on the upper floors. But the partial fossils are also incredible; the delicate skeletal structure of the flying, pterodactyl-like dsungaripterus weii – only found in China – is breathtaking.

Don’t miss The complete fossils of the long- snouted herbivore sinokannemeyeria on the second floor.

Estimated time One hour.

English provisions English signage is limited.

Beijing Museum of Natural History

If taxidermy isn’t for you, then the Beijing Museum of Natural History probably isn’t either. The museum’s biggest sell may be its many dinosaur fossils – from a partial fossil of a woolly mammoth to a wholly intact fossil of a long-necked, diplodocus-like paracerathrium – but the rest of the exhibitions are more mausoleum than museum. Especially ‘Amazing Africa’ on the second floor, which is essentially a stuffed safari scene with lions, zebras, giraffes and so on. That said, the small aquarium hidden in the basement is a treat, with its open pools of (living) rays and sea turtles. It’s a great museum for families and dino-heads, but general visitors won’t learn a whole lot about natural history here.

Don’t miss The ‘Animal – Friends of the Human Being’ exhibit has everything from a fearsome polar bear to delicate little butterflies.

Estimated time One to two hours.

Zhoukoudian Peking Man Site

Zhoukoudian, better known as the site of Peking Man – one of the first specimens of homo erectus – is one of the most important palaeontological sites in the world, and one of Beijing's seven Unesco World Heritage sites. All of the human remains in the museum are replicas (the originals vanished in 1941) but the primitive tools and animal skeletons from the mid-to-late Pleistocene era are genuine. You can also explore the 15 excavation sites; the Peking Man cave is the deepest, darkest and most bone-chilling of them all, the exact site where man’s ancient ancestor lived some 500,000 to 700,000 years ago.

Don’t miss ‘Locality 4’, where evidence of the first-ever use of fire was found.

Estimated time Two-to-three hours.

English provisions Translations are comprehensive, and of a good standard.

China Bee Museum

Tucked away in the northwest corner of the Beijing Botanical Garden is a small museum that tells you everything you need to know – and perhaps a little bit more – about honey bees. The five small rooms are full of floor-to-ceiling info boards (mostly in Mandarin) with everything from their origins, evolution and habitat to a detailed explanation of beeswax and the honey production processes. It closes for winter, so make the most of the summer months to get your buzz on.

Don’t miss The exhibition of real bee hives and honeycombs.

Estimated time 30 minutes for the museum itself; up to three hours with the surrounding gardens.

English provisions English headers and brief intros, but mostly in Mandarin.

Beijing Planetarium

The abundant light pollution and smog-thick air may prevent any actual stargazing in Beijing, and indeed at this planetarium, too, but there are plenty of attractions here to entice wannabe astronomers. The majority of the action is to be found in the more modern Building B, which houses interactive space-age toys to excite the imagination. Enter a large, dark dome and press buttons to see different star constellations, or poke your head inside the crust of a scaled-down version of Mars – who needs space travel? The regular 3D films showing in the Zeiss Cosmos Theatre (45RMB) are worth the trip alone – the wonders of space are projected on the ceiling of the main building’s massive dome. It’s an impressive sight for us, but for kids it’s awe-inspiring.

Don’t miss The Space Invaders-type video game playable inside a giant model sun.

Estimated time Two hours.

English provisions Decent translations accompany most exhibits.

China Science & Technology Museum

Following a comprehensive redesign, China's biggest and best science and technology museum reopened in 2009, boasting five floors filled with impressive interactive exhibits. Built to resemble a wooden block puzzle, the museum shows off the scientific solutions that have shaped our world and beyond, celebrating and simplifying the discoveries of both Chinese and Western scientists for young minds.

Don’t miss Well, you simply can’t miss the giant dinosaur skeleton towering in the lobby – a Chuanjiesaurus.

Estimated time 90 minutes to two hours.

English provisions Nearly all exhibits have decent English translations.

For full venue details and more natural history museums, hit 'Read more'.

More from Time Out Beijing