WHERE IN THE WORLD ?

Where in the World would you expect to find the largest collection of complete dinosaur skeletons ? New York ? Chicago ? London ?
 
No! Probably the largest collection is in a nondescript building, in a small town called Pingyi, around 450 miles southwest of Beijing. The nondescript building is the Tianyu Natural History Museum. 
 
Tianyu means "Universe" in chinese, and there is certainly no shortage of incredible fossils. In one hall alone are 480 dinosaur fossils, along with Miocene fish, and other more recent fossil finds. Their total collection can be counted in the thousands. Many prominent paleontologists agree that the collection in Tianyu is second to none in terms of their dinosaur exhibits.
 
In the 1970's the opening up of China and the reforms that brought, spurred a fervour of fossil collecting amongst the impoverished peasants, who sold their finds to the highest bidders. Tianyu bought most of their fossil collection in this way, despite the fact that it was an illegal practice at the time. It is fairly certain that many officials turned a blind eye!
 
In 2002 the Chinese Government tightened restrictions on the sale of fossils under its Cultural Relics Laws, which has almost dried up both the legal, and the black market trade in fossils.
 
Sourcing fossils from China in the future will become increasingly more difficult.
 
The advantage for anyone possessing Chinese fossils is that their investment will grow in value over the coming years.