Central China's most advanced scientific museum opened Friday in Nanchang of central China's Jiangxi Province after five years of construction.

Covering 46,000 square meters, the Jiangxi Provincial Science and Technology Museum is located beside the prestigious Tengwangge,a landmark pavilion in the province.

The building is mainly planned on a spiral orbit, prompting people to think of the secrets of the universe or the composition of molecules.

The museum is equipped with 260 high-tech devices covering basic science, and applied and modern technology in three halls and 14 areas.

More than 90 percent of the devices, such as spacecraft and robots models, can be operated by visitors.

The museum claims to be first in China to simulate the take-offand flight of spacecraft with the help of audio, optic and electronic techniques and to reproduce the vivid process of pottery making in China's Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

Designed to accommodate 5,000 visitors a day, the museum expects to receive 100,000 people every year.

( People's Daily September 22, 2002)