Longping Rice Museum
The world's first large rice museum is in its trial opening in Changsha, capital of Hunan province.
The museum, named after rice scientist Yuan Longping, resembles six grains and is located east of the Liuyang River in Furong district.
Zhang Hanqi, head of the museum project, said the museum will be fully operational by the end of the year.
It has a floor space of 18,000 square meters and is divided into five zones.
There are four showrooms - three standard ones and a temporary one - covering 6,000 square meters and displaying materials about rice history, rice technology as well as Yuan and his hybrid rice.
In the section dedicated to Yuan and hybrid rice, a statue of Yuan looking and smiling at golden wheat is a reminder of his arduous work in China's rural areas.
There is also a section called Golden Miracle, where modern acoustic and light tools are employed to demonstrate how rice grows.
The museum also presents a show with artifacts, statues and digital figures about Yuan's dream of feeding the world with hybrid rice.
The museum has idyllic surroundings where rice paddies and farmers are easily found, and that will help visitors to the museum get a better idea of the plants.
China Daily
(China Daily 05/31/2016 page24)
