Address :
Olympic Village 奥运村地区
朝阳区朝阳区北辰东路5号5 Beichen Donglu, Chaoyang District
For my first travel to Beijing, I bought a guide book like all the newcomers to know what to do in this unknown city. Of course I did all the must-sees monuments and places during my tour in Beijing, but I noticed in a little section of the book that there is a science and technology museum in the capital, and then it became a must-see place for me to visit too! Actually I live near the science and technology museum in my hometown in France, I do have a lot of fun there when I was younger (I still enjoy going there by the way) and it was one of my favourite place. These two museums are quite similar in the design; I mean they both have a giant dome screen to watch in their theatre, and they are both located in a park. I think this is a very interesting and entertaining place to go for a family outing where both parents and children can have fun and discover new things.
The Chinese science and technology museum is located in the Olympic Village, at ten minutes east of the south gate of the Olympic Forest Park. The gates are open from Tuesday to Sunday 9:30-16:30, and the ticket service closes at 15:30. The ticket is not very expensive; to enter in the main exhibition gallery it is 30RMB per adult, 20RMB for students and 15RMB for young people under 18. On the other hand the access to the Science paradise is cheaper for adults which costs only 10RMB and more expensive for children 20RMB. The ticket for the 3D and 4D theater is the same price than the main exhibition gallery one for the adults, and it's 20RMB for children. The museum is composed by 2 halls in 2 different buildings, the first one exhibits ancient Chinese technology such as astronomical devices, the compass, gunpowder, bronze smelting and casting, and so forth. The second one displays topics concerning astronautics, energy, communications, material science and mechanics, information technology life science, and environmental science.
This museum is the only one in this category in China. In Beijing when someone is talking about this place, others immediately associate it with kids: it is like a giant interactive playground for them. The main visitors of this museum are mainly Chinese families, you won't see a lot of western tourists, but believe me it is worth to see! It's got all the things you'd expect from a science and technology museum. The busiest gallery is on the first floor called "The Glory of China" displaying all the Chinese inventions; the second floor "Exploration and Discovery" focuses on human biology, nature, and the physics of sound, third floor is "The Way to Live" dealing about the human organism, fourth floor calls "Challenges the future" displaying future technologies, on the fifth floor you have the "Science Paradise" a big playground for children, and on the sixth floor some restaurants. Not only that, but all of the exhibits work and are staffed. There is quite a lot of information in English, more than enough to make this a great museum for English only speakers.
I think that there's no need to say that the best would to visit the museum on workdays (and avoid going there on weekends and holidays), so your children could totally enjoy all the interactive attractions without lining up. Make sure that your China travel will offer them real entertaining time while having fun and learning at the same time.
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- China People's Revolution: Military Museum
- The Potala Palace Museum
- The Family Museum Experience
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