Doug and Fred,

Last week I happened to be in Shanghai and had a couple of free hours so
I checked out the Natural History Museum.  It is situated in a
dilapidated building under a freeway overpass and is very easy to miss.
Eventually I found the entrance, gloomy as it was.  There were literally
no other visitors and since most of the interior lights were turned off,
it was hard to make things out.  The exhibits were very primitive, some
appearing to have been done in the early 20th century and other portions
perhaps in the 1960s or 70s.  There were lots of dinosaur bones on the
bottom floor, and the next two floors contained stuffed animals in an
appalling state.  I doubt that school children are taken to this museum
because they would likely suffer from nightmares.  The animals seemed
ghoulish and very deathlike.  Indeed, the entire atmosphere was like
that of a morgue.  There was no evidence of any research facilities nor,
when I asked, was there a library of any sort.  Suffice it to say that
this ranked as one of the most surrealistic experiences of my life.

There was however a hall dedicated to invertebrates.  They seemed to
find crabs more interesting than shells or insects, based on the amount
of space dedicated to them respectively.  A Chinese person once told me
"Westerners see an animal and ask themselves 'what is its name'?  The
Chinese see an animal and ask 'what does it taste like'"?

To witness the total lack of regard for natural history displayed by
this museum, in a city that has more skyscrapers than any other in the
world, does not bode well for the nation's ecological future.  It is
ironic to note that Shanghai's Museum of Urban Planning is in a
beautiful building prominently situated in the People's Square and
contains a perfect scale model the size of a basketball court depicting
Shanghai in the year 2020.
http://www.2bangkok.com/2bangkok/shanghai/index.shtml

Scott

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