A museum is an institution for the collection of cultural relics and specimens, education and research, and as such is an important component of China¡¯s scientific and cultural undertakings. After the founding of the People¡¯s Republic of China (PRC), a series of museums were built, most of which have been featured as a theme on stamp¡¯s designs.
The Stamp of National Central Museum of Natural History
Covering an area of 12000 square meters, the National Central Museum of Natural History was built in 1950 with 18000 square meters of building area and 6000 square meters of exhibition area. Since it was constructed under the aid of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, its building was featured by Soviet style. It was renamed as Beijing Museum of Natural History in February 1962. With four basic exhibition rooms and more than 100000 cultural relics, fossils and specimens in collection, the museum is famous for the number of mammal fossils. The Ministry of Post and Telecommunication issued two kinds of stamps on April 1 1959, respectively with the postages of 4 cents (RMB fen) and 8 cents.
