Europe's top spots to get your dinosaur fix

By Liu Hui | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2018-07-04 16:45

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Nottingham Natural History Museum

Nottingham, UK

Opened to the public in 1926

Massive dinosaur skeletons and valuable fossils of feathered dinosaurs from China were part of a world-exclusive temporary exhibition coming to Nottingham's Natural History Museum at Wollaton Hall. [Photo by Wang Qi/For chinadaily.com.cn]

From the summer of 2017 through October that year, this small Nottingham museum offered a big thrill for fossil enthusiasts. Wang's involvement helped bring the Dinosaurs of China exhibition to the UK.

The largest dinosaur on show at Wollaton Hall in Nottingham was the 75-foot Mamenchisaurus in a unique reared-up posture that made it the tallest mounted dinosaur ever built in the UK..

The curators specially arranged the exhibits in Wollaton Hall's labyrinthine spaces, where different dinosaurs were placed in groups to tell stories.

"Through the castle's high window, Mamenchisaurus raised up her head to behold the beautiful natural reserve of Wollaton Park. She may see modern birds flying around. Will they talk to each other as different members from the same family? We composed this scenario to highlight the fact modern birds are evolved directly from dinosaurs," Wang explained.

Meanwhile at Mamenchisaurus' back, a hungry Sinraptor is sneaking up behind. The predator has spotted a potential meal, but it has to be careful – one swipe from a Mamenchisaurus tail is deadly. "Do you think the predator will take the risk and attack? What happens next? We were rather happy to hand over the second half of the story to the visitors. This was what we wanted to encourage, the 'minds-on' exhibition approach," Wang added.