The China Science and Technology Museum: From yesterday to tomorrow
- By William Wang
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E-mail CRI, April 2, 2013
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A woman stands electrified in a demonstration at the China Science and Technology Museum. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com/William Wang] |
Although the consensus claims that China missed the industrial revolution, technology in China is today playing a catch-up game like no other. Joining the space race has just been the icing on the cake; the more concrete evidence of technology in China can be seen in the lives of its citizens. Smartphones aside, general knowledge about the sciences and technology is zooming upwards, and the China Science and Technology Museum is a reflection of this phenomenon.
The shiny new incarnation of the Science and Technology Museum opened in 2009. Four extensive floors arrange themselves around a central atrium, each with its own theme: Sci-tech and Life, Exploration and Discovery, Challenges and the Future, and The Glory of China.
An overload of information with hands-on displays and exhibits all compete for visitors' attention. The first floor focuses on China's inventions of the compass, gunpowder and papermaking and printing processes. But the excitement lies on the floors above.
At the particularly popular stations where science and amusement parks intersect, queues can grow pretty long: buckling up and spinning around in a gyroscope is an opportunity that's hard to pass up (though definitely enough to make this reporter queasy).
Other more active stations allow guests to ride a bike that uses a fan to propel itself forwards, or to flounce about a moonscape in a counterbalanced chair.
For more entertainment, a tight schedule of demonstrations throughout the museum takes place about every half hour, with as many as five starting at the same time. An electromagnetic performance invites audience members and their hair to nervously get electrified. Liquid nitrogen demonstrations freeze attendees' disbelief. A paper-making workshop gets kids' hands down and dirty.
However, some of the "demonstrations" have more zing than others. Watching a polystyrene train tediously crawling around a track, and a sewing machine stitching patterns into a piece of cloth quickly lead to the uncomfortable moment when you show your disinterest to the attendant by leaving.
Whether visitors sprint from demo to demo or not, there's more than enough to keep everyone busy for a full day. Ivan, a visitor from Russia was visiting the museum for the second time, having run out of time before.
"You need about eight hours to cover everything," he said, eyes glued to patterns revealed in falling streams of water.
The Exploration and Discovery section is particularly good for ADHD types, filled with buttons to press, knobs to twist and cranks to wind, each resulting in some peculiar electrical or magnetic reaction.
The building also includes four distinctly different projection theaters. The dome theater is the highlight, doing what planetarium theaters do. High tech projections on a 1,000- square-meter screen provide the clearest views of Beijing's sky.
China Science and Technology Museum
Tickets: adults, 30 yuan. Children/students, 20 yuan
Varying ticket prices for movies
http://www.cstm.org.cn
Getting there: From South Gate of Forest Park subway station (Line 8), walk south for five minutes, then on Kehui South Road walk east for five minutes.
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