Shenzhen's New Science Museum: Instant Regret. Just Don't.
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After seeing a recommendation, I made a huge effort to secure a ticket! I spent two sleepless nights on my phone and took an hour to finally manage it! At the time, I felt incredibly lucky.
Today, we set off very excitedly early in the morning.
- Upon arriving at the parking lot, we found that it was double-decker, quite rare. We arrived around 9:30 AM, and there were still plenty of available spaces.
- First Floor: It’s where they screen movies (we didn’t get movie tickets, so we didn’t enter).
- Second Floor: The ticket entrance and some temporary exhibitions.
Note here: If you only bought tickets for the temporary exhibitions, you won’t be able to enter the main permanent galleries; conversely, if you bought tickets for the permanent galleries, you won’t be able to see the temporary exhibitions. Ticket purchases are separate for each!
- Third, Fourth, Fifth Floors: Main permanent exhibition spaces.
There’s one dancing robot on each floor, similar to the lobby-attendant robots used in some hotels — not particularly high-tech. The fourth floor was a bit less crowded.
Now, I'll start complaining about why I feel a little regret:
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️ CAUTION: Air quality may be poor, likely due to formaldehyde!Within half an hour of entering, I started feeling dizzy and short of breath. Originally thinking it was just me, I discovered that among our six people, three others were experiencing similar discomfort too.
We speculated that perhaps they had just finished building this new venue, so that the indoor chemicals (such as formaldehyde, a common after-construction chemical gas that can cause discomfort), hadn’t dissipated yet. It was possibly more sensitive within us, hence we’d caught the “symptom”.
Important suggestion: If you tend to be sensitive to such chemical smells, or if you often feel unwell, it’s highly recommended to avoid visiting here for the next few months for your safety! Security first! -
Experience is too rigid, with subpar interactive experiences.
Although feeling dizzy, I still managed to circle around the exhibition, giving my observation that there were simply too many screens. Interactive experience is basically nil.
Majority of the exhibits were screens displaying content, what would be considered "interactive" were just simple挥手的动作（比如让你在屏幕前挥挥手之类的）；很多地方文字堆砌硬塞知识点。- Our group included seniors, children, and middle-agers -- each age group felt unattended by this museum’s content. I really couldn't grasp their target audience.
- From my perspective, science popularization should at least capture some intriguing points, present knowledge in simple and understandable ways with experiments etc. to make it interesting. Here, most failed to do so. What I saw were only repetitive screens and text pile-ups, as if they were focused on using more screens and projectors to create so-called "light pollution".
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Queuing projects: Long queues but uninteresting.
I didn't finish all queuing projects, but those I've seen have very mediocre experiences:
- For example, the so-called "space capsule landing experience", is merely letting visitors lie down in two simulation cabins, shaking a few times to conclude it.
- And regarding the "astronaut training event", participants just sit in an ordinary computer chair, slowly making two revolution around its vertical axis, finishing in two minutes...
Yet the time limit for these experiences and the queue numbers are restricted. Those queuing don’t seem to find much value in it.
Overall, this experience was quite disappointing. I have visited science museums in Hong Kong and Guangzhou, so my perspectives are neither overly critical nor unrealistic. Even our accompanying children found nothing fascinating after playing for a while and insisted on going to the nearby park instead.
Sigh, it’s ultimately quite a disappointment. Should someone be really interested in this new Science Center in Shenzhen, consider dialing down your expectations after reading this post; you might find it tolerable.#ShenzhenScienceCenter #ScienceAndTechnologyMuseum
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I went today too, and I feel the same way. It was quite disappointing. Personally, I think the science museum at Longgang Red Cube is better than this one.
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I haven't been to the one in Longgang yet. I'll go check it out when I have time.
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I generally skip anything with an admission fee.
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The price is actually quite reasonable. It was half-price during the May Day holiday – just 25 for adults, with additional discounts for seniors and children. Honestly, I'd rather pay more for tickets if it meant they weren't so difficult to book.
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I had bought tickets and was planning to take my baby for an outing tomorrow. After reading your comment, I quickly got a refund. My baby is quite sensitive, and I'm worried about potential formaldehyde issues.
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It's hard to say. My child was fine, so I think it really depends on individual sensitivity. If you're concerned, it might be best to wait a while before visiting.
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I feel the same way. It looks impressive and high-tech, but there isn't much interactivity. My kid explored a few sections in the morning and had no interest in going back in the afternoon.
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I was planning to go this weekend, but I have a young child. After seeing mentions of dizziness and formaldehyde, I'm too worried to go now.
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The Red Cube and the Luohu Science Museum are both free. This one in Guangming charges an admission fee?
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It felt stuffy inside, like there wasn't enough oxygen, and it was packed with people. Extremely uncomfortable. We left after only about half an hour.
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In my opinion, even the science museum in Nanchang is better designed and offers more interactive fun than this one.
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It was free to visit before the May Day holiday. However, it's not very interactive and isn't suitable for young children.
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I actually thought it was quite good! It has a very futuristic, high-tech vibe. However, it was incredibly crowded during the May Day holiday, and having to queue for everything was definitely a downside.
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That's pretty good then.