Maps were unfolded at my hotel when I asked about how to go to Zhoukoudian. It didn't become very clear if there is a bus going there, so I opted to hire a taxi for a few hours. The driver didn't know how to get there either, but with a map and some directions asked underway we drove to Zhoukoudian. After leaving the expressway, we even encountered a large sign "Peking Man World Heritage Site, Zhoukoudian", accompanied by a picture of Peking Man himself and the Unesco logo. At the end of the road through town, we stumbled upon a parking lot and a ticket office (marked Beijing ren). I was pleased to have made it here, as it looked like not many people ever got here.

Behind the entrance, following steep steps through the woods, the first place to see is the Peking Man cave (the one that was discovered in 1921). Signs in English detail the findings here. I had the place all to myself, it was so quiet that I expected some prehistoric animal to creep from under the stones. A great place to contemplate man's life during the past 500.000 years though.

I walked around the other caves and the interesting museum. The phrase 'Few go to visit Peking Man site anymore' (the title of a Seattle newspaper article you can find in the links section above) didn't prove true today however: about half an hour after I had arrived, some twelve buses filled up the parking lot and released hundreds of screaming schoolchildren. All wearing their school's training suits, they ran around the place filling in questionnaires and picnicking at every possible spot (with the chicken legs their mothers packed them, or a bag from McDonald's).