Beijing is known for its rich history, China for its 5,000 years back to antiquity, but this Oriental capital also boasts a Paleolithic heritage discovered and preserved at the Peking Man Site or Zhoukoudian. I have wanted to visit this archaeological site since first learning about it several years ago. It would be my fifth and final World Heritage Site in Beijing to visit. However, Zhoukoudian is far away from the city and not easily accessible by public transportation, or so I thought.
On a recent holiday, two of my colleagues and I rented a car and drove to the Fangshan district of Beijing, which happens to be mostly composed of the Fangshan UNESCO Global Geopark. Unfortunately, we really only got to explore the museum and surroundings at the actual locale.
The Peking Man Site
A few years ago, a mudslide damaged what could be seen at the actual dig location. Since then the archaeological areas of the tourist site have been closed to renovations. They should be completed soon and look very impressive from the outside.
We did still visit the site and walked around the hill. There are also some interactive things there including a learning pavilion. It has many virtual games to demonstrate Stone Age practices of hunting, fishing, and more. I don’t know how accurate they are or how educational they are, but it was fun for a while.
Museum
The museum is decent and gives a very good overview of the site, the fossils found there, the natural and human history studied there, and more. The main galleries have some fossils that were discovered and some life-size dioramas depicting the Stone Age people and their life.
In addition to several remains of Homo erectus (Peking Man) and early Homo sapiens, several animal remains and tools have been found at the site. Those fossils are pretty spectacular. Unfortunately, most of the early discovered and collected archaeological specimens were lost during China’s war with Japan (which poured into WWII). A major shipment was on a ship that was lost in transit. This was a significant loss to the human fossil record.
The museum also has a small temporary exhibition hall. During our visit, a collection of Tang-era pottery was visiting from the Shaanxi Provincial Museum. There were some spectacular pieces in the collection.
Getting There Next Time
I hope to return again when the archaeological site reopens. It should be easier to reach now since a Beijing Metro line goes nearly all the way there. Next time, I’ll take the Fangshan Line to the terminus or close to it and get a taxi from there.
