The history of the Shanghai Natural History Museum goes back to the Xujiahui Museum, founded in 1868 by the French Roman Catholic priest Pierre Heude (China’s first museum, renamed “Zhendan Museum” in 1933) and the Shanghai Museum of the Asiatic Society founded by the British in 1874 (affiliated to the Royal Asiatic Society, renamed “Shanghai Museum” after Liberation). In 1956 a new Shanghai Natural History Museum was opened, with the collections of Zhendan Museum and Shanghai Museum at its core. In 2001 this museum lost its independent status, and was merged with the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum. In 2007 the project of creating a new Shanghai Natural History Museum was launched, and an investment of 1.3 billion RMB was allocated. Work started on 26th June 2009, and the new Museum opened to the public in the second quarter of 2015.
