One of the cluster of higher-education institutions packed into the northwest's University District, China University of Geosciences sits among the campuses that ring Wudaokou and feed its late-night, low-budget food and bar scene. It is a specialist school — earth sciences, mining, and resource engineering — and its small geological museum, with fossils and minerals, is open to visitors.
For the traveller the campus matters mainly as part of the student mass that gives Wudaokou its character: the area's cheap noodle shops, Korean grills, and cafés exist to feed exactly this population. There is no need to make a special trip, but the museum is a quiet curiosity if you are already in the neighbourhood.