Museum set up by French naturalist stands test of time

He was honored with the Legion of Honour from France, as well as a Jiahe Medal, a medal awarded to people making contributions to China in the 1920s.

The Hoangho Paiho Museum was named by Licent to commemorate his work near the Yellow River (Hoangho) and the Haihe River (called Paiho during his time).

"China possesses such a wealth of late Cenozoic mammal fossils for comparison and further study, primarily thanks to Licent's contributions," says Qiu Zhanxiang, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Gao Xing, a researcher at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, believes that "writing history about the hundred years of Chinese archaeology shall be started with Licent's research".

Philippe Guillet, curator of the Natural History Museum of Nantes in France, says the Tianjin museum reflects the cultural exchanges between the two nations. "I believe the museum makes the city have unique cultural characteristics," he adds.