A Journey through the Digestive System and Other Adventures: The Shanghai Science and Technology Museum

What did you learn today? I learned that people once believed hippos sweated blood. It was eventually discovered that the red secretion that seeps through their thick skins simply protects them against sun and infection. I also learned that in order for cobwebs to be photographed clearly they are dusted with cornstarch.

The approach towards Shanghai Science and Technology Museum from its eponymous Line 2 station is an impressive one. The still ubiquitous Haibao waves toward exit 7 below a giant sphere that is flanked by the building's tall, many levelled, wings.

The new Polar Exploration exhibition, which runs until 28th February, is situated in the central sphere. I can’t honestly say that I’d recommend it: it consists of some rather sad looking, stuffed polar animals, a display of Antarctic meteorites (literally some rocks under glass domes), and small models of Chinese polar research stations. The most interesting thing about the exhibition is that the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is included here as the third pole (without a trace of irony that this is in fact the name of a certain campaign for the independence of a certain region, nudge nudge).

The permanent exhibitions at the Science and Technology Museum are by far the most interesting but their educational value varies. Animal World is a large space featuring still life mockups of habitats across the continents and each tableau teams stuffed wildlife with a realistic representation of their behaviours and environments. They are no holds barred in representing predators and their prey. Jackals, hyenas, and leopards rip into antelope with gusto in the Africa scene.

Beyond Animal World is a vast reconstruction of a rainforest. It is an impressive mix of real tropical plants and trees planted at many levels on a man made ‘mountain’ featuring Indiana Jones style wood and rope bridges, a rather creepy bat cave, huge mechanical insects, and displays of stuffed birds, butterflies, and some very inquisitive carp. As soon as you walk into this wing of the museum, the smell and warmth of the rainforest meet you and for that alone it’s worth checking out.

Upstairs is the spider room. Even as a total arachnophobe, I found this exhibition to be very informative. There are interactive activities explaining the structures and functions of different spider webs and others that show how a spider differentiates between vibrations on its web to catch its prey.

The ‘World of Robots’ is a popular area with kids. There are loads of interactive activities but they lean more towards carefree fun than educational value. You can play Gobang against a robot or try to beat a robot at archery (I tried but I was terrible at it).There is also a robot musician, a robot artist which will draw your portrait, and plenty of computer games besides. It’s a fun area but the explanations of robotics on the walls are kept to a minimum.

The area dedicated to the discovery of micro particles, Classical Experiments to Explore Micro Particle Structure, is a curious mix of the beautiful and the downright random. Inside a mock up of a Victorian scientist’s lab there is a small cloud chamber. I defy anyone not to become mesmerized by the tiny cloudlike traces of particles as they skip across the dark surface inside the airtight glass box. The only thing that distracted me from this was what I swear was a picture of Sting amongst the Enlightenment scientists on the wall.

One area that really needs improvement is that dedicated to DNA and genetics. It really doesn’t explain much. It is a series of mock ups of the workrooms of famous scientists – Gregor Mendel’s monastery workroom has a few bowls of peas on the table, for instance – and odd representative displays such as a field of sheep with a lonely sign beside it explaining that Dolly the sheep was special because she was cloned.  

The Human Body section is very entertaining. There’s a small amphitheatre with a large plastic man lying in the middle of the room like a patient anaesthetized upon a table. He is dressed like a man from the Stone Age with a Flintstones-esque necklace and artfully arranged vine leaves. A cartoon takes place above the man’s head and he interacts with it, demonstrating physiological effects like increased blood flow when his character is angered or in action – at least, I think that’s what was going on.

The last activity I encountered at the Science and Technology Museum was a very unusual one: a ride through the gastro-intestinal tract. Go to the museum for this bizarre attraction alone. Visitors get to sit inside a pear or an apple and put on a pair of 3D glasses. Then, the vehicle travels down past a giant mouth… I won’t ruin it for you. I will say that being - what’s a polite word for it? - excreted out the end of a ‘journey through digestive tract’ was a curiously appropriate end to the day. The mysteries of human reproduction, hidden behind a red velvet curtain nearby, will have to wait until another day.

This is certainly not a museum to come to for in depth analysis. It’s more of an entertaining and occasionally educational overview of a vast array of disciplines. I was there for around three and a half hours and I still missed some displays.

Shanghai Science and Technology Museum
www.sstm.org.cn
Adults: 60 yuan
Students: 45 yuan
Children: 20 yuan   

Opening Hours: 9am-5:15pm