The new Hefei Science and Technology Museum is set in the Hefei high-tech zone. [Photo/WeChat ID: hefeigaoxinfabu]

The much-anticipated Hefei Science and Technology Museum (Nature Museum) is completing construction and is expected to start operating in the first half of this year.

Located in the Hefei high-tech zone – in Hefei city, capital of East China's Anhui province – the new museum is more than four times the construction area of the old one. It has a total floor space of about 50,000 square meters.

The entire museum adopts a step-like shape, giving people the upward force to climb towards the peaks of science. Moreover, it has adopted a variety of innovative construction techniques.

An aerial view of the new Hefei Science and Technology Museum in the Hefei high-tech zone. [Photo/WeChat ID: hefeigaoxinfabu]

There will be 13 exhibition halls – some called Curiosity, Tools, Wisdom and the Yang Zhenning Exhibition Hall - displaying nearly 900 exhibits.

Among them, the deep space exploration project exhibition area is being built by the Hefei Science and Technology Association and the China National Space Administration.

The dome theater in the new Hefei Science and Technology Museum. [Photo/WeChat ID: hefeigaoxinfabu]

There is also a dome theater with an internal construction area of about 450 sq m, with a screen area of 200 sq m and a viewing angle of up to 162 degrees. It is the province's largest indoor sphere building.