Monday, April 11, 2016

Wuhan does geoscience

One of the lesser-known sights in Wuhan is the University of Geosciences. The campus in Wuhan seems mainly to be the undergraduate campus, whereas the graduate school for geology is in Beijing.

The first notable building seen from the main road is the museum, which is rather striking.


I knew that the museum was along the road here somewhere, but I didn't expect it to stand out like this. Travel blogs had stated that there was an entire forest of petrified wood nearby. In fact there were only a few pieces.




Other rocks on display outside the museum included stromatolites and a big chunk of "peony stone", which is some sort of porphyry.

I had heard all sorts of outrageous numbers about the number of students at the University of Geosciences. Numbers exceeding 100,000 from a certain site more well known for pumping stocks. According to this site, there are just over 25,000 students, but there are numerous programs.

This number of students is awfully impressive compared to those in geological programs in countries with geology in their history--Canada, for instance.

The campus itself is something of a disappointment.


Obligatory sculpture of a guy with a geologist's hammer.


Aging, nondescript buildings


A gate

The place was dead, but then we had just entered the spring holiday.

Even the museum has seen better days. My first day in Wuhan, it was closed. It was only going to open on the weekend, and only for a limited number of people.

It was cold inside. Apparently, they don't heat the building in the winter on the days when it is closed.

 

I think this is the part inside the big ball.


An early seismometer. Probably every museum in China has one of these.



Like all museums, fossils are front and centre. Unfortunately, the lighting was terrible in a lot of the galleries, so



One of the main reasons to visit geoscience museums in China. Dinosaur eggs

Good dinosaur fossils are common at all three geoscience museums I visited (the one in Nanning was closed, seemingly permanently, and I couldn't locate the one in Guilin). Henan province, where I am staying, is home to many of the best dinosaur-fossil locales.




The other reason to visit geoscience museums in China. Feathered dinosaur fossils.

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