Learn about oils and fats in a museum

The Oils and Fats Museum of China, located in Wuhan Polytechnic University, is surrounded by olive trees, camellia trees, sunflowers, sesame, and various other woody and herbaceous oil crops. It is the only museum about oils and fats in China, a earliest country to cultivate oil crops.

Wang Liying, the museum's director, introduced that oils have always been a necessity for human survival since ancient times. At present, the museum has a collection of over 8,000 oil-related pieces, including nearly 1,000 volumes of literature.

There are also various styles of oil lamps, ranging from simple to intricate, antique-style horizontal wooden oil presses from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), and a variety of modern oil extraction machines.

Huang Fenghong, Director of the Oil Crops Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said edible oils can not only meet our needs but are good for health.

Currently, the Oil Crop Culture Park covers an area of about 6,200 square meters, where over 360 woody oil crops grow. Wang Liying said that after the harvest, the museum is going to guide students to experience the oil extraction process.

The Museum has been open to students, the public, and visitors for free for over 300 days each year since its opening in October 2021, having already received around 30,000 visitors.
Source: Xinhua; trans-editing by Wang Yunya