Soaring Dinosaurs – Chinese Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Life features about 200 exotic fossils of dinosaurs and other ancient animals and plants unearthed in China. The fossils offer clues to the evolution of the dinosaurs and shed new light on the rise of birds, mammals and flowering plants.

Among the precious collection of fossils is the Jehol Biota unique to the province of Liaoning in northern China. During the early Cretaceous Period about 120 million years ago, the area was warm with lush vegetation around lakes and rivers. Prehistoric animals and plants flourished on this landscape until massive volcanic eruptions took place. Dinosaurs with feathers and ancients birds were among the victims of the prehistoric catastrophe. Without any warning and before they could take wing, the animals were buried alive in a layer of fine volcanic ash. Since the discovery of feathered dinosaurs in Liaoning in the early nineties, the exotic finds have commanded international attention and have become a focus of scientific research.

This exhibition showcases latest discoveries and research by the Institute of Geology of the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Museum, Chongqing Museum of Natural History and Lufeng Dinosaur Museum. Never before seen in Hong Kong, the fossils include the Jinfengopteryx elegans and Microraptor gui, precursors of modern birds, the 9-metre-tall Nuoerosaurus chaganensis found in the Gobi Desert, and the 9-metre-long Mammuthus sungari, one of the largest kinds of mammoths ever discovered.

This exhibition is one of the major events for the Celebration of the Tenth Anniversary of the Establishment of the HKSAR.