Zigong Dinosaur Museum 自贡恐龙博物馆

About Zigong Dinosaur Museum

Mounted skeletons include the long-necked Omeisaurus and the armoured Huayangosaurus. A second exploration building adds an in-place Omeisaurus burial site and a section through the local rock layers. Compare the assembled skeletons with the positions of bones in the ground to see how palaeontologists turn a fossil deposit into an interpretation of an animal.

Construction began in April 1984, and the museum was completed on 15 January 1987. The Dashanpu (大山铺) dinosaur fossil site became a Sichuan provincial cultural relic protection unit (四川省文物保护单位) in 1991 and a national geopark (国家地质公园) in 2002. Beneath the central hall, an approximately 350-square-meter excavation area preserves overlapping skeletal remains from seventeen dinosaurs.

The later exploration building also presents dinosaur eggs, rock specimens and casts of Tyrannosaurus skulls and feathered dinosaurs. Its displays draw on specimens from different parts of the world and introduce the history of paleontology. Plans for this building date to 2011, and construction was completed in 2023.

What to look for

• The excavation pit preserves dinosaur bones in their original sediment.
• Mounted Omeisaurus and Huayangosaurus skeletons show contrasting dinosaur body plans.
• The exploration hall includes a local stratigraphic section and an Omeisaurus burial site.

Location & getting there

Getting to Zigong Dinosaur Museum

Travel to the museum at 268 Shenhaijing Road, Section 4, Da’an District, in the Dashanpu area northeast of central Zigong. Specify the dinosaur museum when arranging the final road transfer.