Zigong Dinosaur Museum and the Bamboo Sea of SE Sichuan

Among the outstanding attractions in SE Sichuan is the Zigong Dinosaur Museum, which, built over a huge deposit of bones, claims to hold the largest number of dinosaur fossils in the world. The main exhibit is a dinosaur pit – an area, which has been enclosed by a hall that contains viewing balconies, where you can see fossils lying, in situ, waiting to be excavated. In another hall, skeletons of huge dinosaurs have been reassembled. You can both walk around and view from a balcony, giving an accurate perspective of how huge these creatures really were. Further halls house fossils, which include those that show dinosaur feathering. This is one of the world’s major Dinosaur exhibitions.

With motorway travel it’s just over 2 hours’ drive from Chengdu to the museum, so a daytrip is possible. There’s also a high-speed train but getting to the museum also requires a 50km taxi drive.

For those wishing to further explore SE Sichuan, other tourist sites include the Shunan Bamboo Sea – a national park where numerous trails run along scenic hillsides covered in Giant Bamboo. A further 2 hours’ drive from Zigong, this site is difficult to reach through public transport.