SHANGRI-LA OLD TOWN EXPLORATION MUSEUM

The CERS Exploration Museum is situated in the edge of Old Town Shangri-la Yunnan, with a view of the entire rooflines of Old Town and the largest Prayer Wheel in the distant hill.  Almost all tourists to Shangri-la visit Old Town and linger around the many homes, restaurants and shops set among cobbled streets.

The Museum is converted from a restored two-storeyed traditional home and has been expanded to include six exhibit rooms, each designated to one permanent exhibit about exploration in China.  It also has a well-stocked library of very select books on exploration, including some antiquity books.  A small petite theater can seat 24 in the audience and specially edited CERS exploration films and historical films can be shown.

The six exhibit rooms include the following exhibits:

		1) History of early aviation in China including many rare aerial photos of the country taken during the 1930s and 40s. Some are paired up with current day satellite images of the same site. A film has been produced and can be shown on site.
		2) History of missionary explorer to Tibet featuring early missionary of the French Foreign Mission and the St Bernard Mission. Also one documentary film is shown on site.
		3) History of the discovery of Taiwan by early Dutch explorers.
		4) Women explorers to China, including five western women who journeyed to China as early as the 1890s.  One Chinese American woman pilot who flew in China in the early 1930s is also featured.
		5) CERS definitive exploration and discovery of three main river sources of China, the Yangtze, the Mekong and the Yellow River.  Several films are available on site.
		6) CERS Scientific exploration, including caving activities and results, and the pioneering work of the Society on several flagship species of wildlife including the Tibetan Antelope, Wild Yak, Asiatic Beaver, Golden Monkey and Black-necked Crane.
ll the above exhibits include on display some rare books on the subject as well as relics and artifacts related to the exhibit.