Museum of Geology and Mineral Resources

The Shanxi Geological and Mineral Museum, completed and open to the public in 1960, is located in Taiyuan City of Shanxi Province. Its original name was "the Geological Museum of Geological Department of Shanxi Province". In 1982, the name was changed into "the Geological and Mineral Exhibition Hall of Shanxi Geological and Mineral Bureau" and is renamed now as "the Shanxi Geological and Mineral Museum". The museum has collected 7,324 object samples in total, 2,910 of which are on display, including 50 pieces of raw materials of industrial art minerals, 20 pieces of handicraft articles, 98 mineral deposits, 271 pieces of minerals, 281 pieces of rocks, 430 pieces of paleontological fossil, 12 cross section pieces of stratum, and 338 pieces of various kinds of ores. Some exhibits are valuable for scientific researches, such as the standard cross section sample of the Xishan (western hill) in Taiyuan, the cross section samples of the Wutaixi stratum and the Hutuoxi stratum, the iron meteorite sample and the geological structure sample. The iron meteorite sample, weighing 6.5 tons, was collected from Lingshi County in the year of 590 in the Sui Dynasty (581-618).