Siqi and his mom and I visited the Zhejiang Geological Museum in Xiaoshan, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.
See below for transcriptions of some informative but somewhat amusing English text, and photos of some of the awesome minerals on display.
Preface
“Over the past 2 billion years, Zhejiang, an ancient and charming land, has experienced the colliding and merging of paleocontinents, and has been subjected to severe actions by ‘water’ and ‘fire’ alternatively, which has brought about a series of historical stories of geological changes as great as blue seas becoming mulberry fields and vice versa.
“Hundreds of millions of years have created picturesque peculiar mountains and pellucid waters: Yandang and Jianglang are one of those most magnificent and rugged mountains; West Lake and Xianghu Lake are one of those most mellow and beautiful waters; Shuanglong Cave and Yaolin Cave are one those most towering isles with undulating ripples.
“Hundreds of millions of years have given birth to all living things: from the germination of life in the Proterozoic era to the paradise of marine life in the Paleozoic era, from the booming age of dinosaurs in the Mesozoic era to the birth of human beings in the Cenozoic era, life has been constantly evolving here, and silent fossils narrate this vivid history.
“Hundreds of millions of years have bestowed mineral treasures: bloodstone is interesting and elegant; Qingtian stone is as warm as jade; colorful fluorite is dazzling; alum stone flowers are crystal clear. Many minerals are both the beauty of art and the source of energy, and the nature’s luxuriate treasures are like golden namecards that are well-known both at home and abroad.
“Along the Qiantang River, the Geological Museum of Zhejiang Province tells this appealing geological story. There are five permanent exhibition halls: Geological History Hall, Mineral Resources Hall, Geological Environment Hall, Marine Geology Hall and Land Resources Hall. In addition, the museum sets up several Popular Science Classrooms, Gemstone Laboratory, Multimedia Projection Hall and Geoscience Gallery. Furthermore, the museum houses numerous typical minerals, rocks, ores, paleontological fossils, gems and jades, and other geological specimens from inside and outside the province.
“Let’s enjoy our visit, opening the dust-laden memory of Zhejiang for two billion years, appreciating the beauty of her geology, and chanting the epic of her mountains and seas!”
Geological History Hall
Apparently the province was formed by the collision of two plates, and has volcanoes in its history (not now).
The Universe
“In ancient Chinese literature, the four sides around and the up and down directions is called “Yu”, while the past to the present of time is called “Zhou”. “Yu” and “Zhou” together make the universe. The universe is the general name of the vast space, and various celestial bodies including matters diffused among them. It is the unity of time and space.”
Zhejiang Geological History
“The land in Zhejiang has gone through 2 billion years of geological and historical changes, which can be divided into four evolutionary stages: the Proterozoic Era, the South Zhejiang continent and the North Zhejiang continent formed successively, and the earliest life appeared; the Paleozoic Era, creatures flourished unprecedentedly, and the two ancient continents collided and merged into one; the Mesozoic Era, the northern Zhejiang continent fold orogeny, volcanic eruption and basin deposition interweaved, dinosaurs once flourished; the Cenozoic Era, the earth crust was uplifted and the land and sea changed, and the modern landform was gradually formed, the ancient people in Zhejiang opened the dawn of human civilization here.”
Dinosaurs in Zhejiang
This picture shows (clockwise from top left): Zhejiangoperterus linhaiensis, Yandangornis longicaudus, Taxodiaceae, Cyathea spinulosa, Chilantaisaurus zhejiangensis, Dongyangosaurus sinensis, Cycas revoluta.
Fluorite in Zhejiang
Fluorite! This is really what I came to learn about…
Conclusion
“My friends, have you been shocked by the magic of the universe? Are you attracted by the mysteries of the earth? Or amazed by the evolution of Zhejiang’s land patterns? Through this journey, I believe you have gained much knowledge and expanded your imaginations. The future of mankind depends not only on our understanding of the universe, but also on our understanding of the earth. Questions popping up endlessly are inviting us to explore further and discover more…”
Mineral Resources Hall
On the second floor was a gallery about mineral resources, and it had a bunch of crystals and gems and some other special rocks that are brown and red, including chicken blood stone and “qiantian” stone and some kind of blue something stone (there was a huge one in the entry lobby).
Preface
“How many minerals have you ever seen? What minerals are proud to be native to Zhejiang? Here, a large number of dazzling minerals, rocks and exquisite gemstones are carefully displayed for you, which you can not only feast your eyes on, but also gain you more knowledge.”
Periodic Table in Chinese
The characters for the elements include radicals (character components) that indicate something about them. The gaseous ones have an “air” radical at the top and right; most elements have the “metal” radical on the left; some have the “stone” radical on the left; bromine has a “water” radical on the left. Fascinating.
Pretty rocks!
Gift Shop, Geological Environment Hall, and Marine Geology Hall
The gift shop on the second floor had a bunch of plastic dinosaurs, some jewellery, and some stones, but nothing amazing.
Then it was 4 pm, and they close at 4.30 pm, so they started playing music loudly to tell people to start thinking about leaving. And what did they play? Kenny G! Hilarious. Normally, calm, melodic saxophone music is soothing… but not when it’s loud and it means “go away”!
Anyway, we zipped through the other galleries in the building, the first of which was about the geological environment (interesting places you can go and see in the province, and arguments why these kinds of places need to be protected). There were some photos, but mostly it was text, and in Chinese, so I didn’t get a lot out of that. The last one was about marine geology, and even less interesting to me. We didn’t visit the other building, which had a gallery about land resources plus the spaces for special exhibitions.
Final Thoughts
The museum was free. Not worth traveling a long way for, but it was very near Siqi’s house in Xiaoshan. Totally worth spending a couple of hours there, if you’re at all interested in rocks or natural history in general. Some of the minerals were really spectacular, and it was really cool to see the large fluorite collection. Zhejiang has a lot of fluorite.
Now, of course, I want to go to the town in Zhejiang where a lot of fluorite comes from…
