Beijing Wangfujing Paleolithic Site Museum

　　The Wangfujing Paleolithic Site was discovered in 1996 and is a late Paleolithic site dating back about 24,000 to 25,000 years. It was once an area where ancient humans lived and hunted, featuring rich traces of fire use, burnt stones, and animal fossils. With a display atmosphere that takes you back to basics, large-scale illustrations of ancient humans' lives and hunting scenes transport visitors to the homeland of their ancestors 20,000 years ago, allowing them to experience the living environment and lifestyle of their forebears. The museum offers commentary scripts tailored for different audiences—including standard, student, and English versions—and is equipped with computer touchscreens providing global information on related ancient humans, enabling visitors to learn about ancient life and experience ancestral living conditions in a relaxed and harmonious environment.

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　　The Beijing Wangfujing Paleolithic Site Museum is located in the earliest prehistoric human site unearthed beneath Beijing’s Oriental Plaza, recreating scenes from 25,000 years ago where spotted deer leapt, ostriches thrived, people listened to the mountains and waters, and lived by hunting. It showcases evidence of “Peking Man” hunting, using fire, and crafting tools. Within the museum’s over 300-square-meter exhibition hall, stone anvils, stone hammers, stone cores, and stone flakes excavated from the original site are displayed. Also exhibited are bones of ancient animals such as primitive cattle, spotted deer, ostriches, and fish, along with bone shovels and flakes crafted by humans more than 20,000 years ago. Visitors can also see relics and remains of fire use by late Pleistocene humans. The exhibition features a wealth of charts and photos, vividly illustrating the life scenes of ancient humans hunting, cooking, resting, and making tools in today’s Wangfujing area 25,000 years ago, all set against murals and sculptures. The venue also offers interactive activities for young visitors, including computer touchscreens. This site represents another major discovery of ancient human remains in the Beijing area following the Zhoukoudian Peking Man, and it is the first time in the world that traces of ancient human culture have been found in the heart of a major international metropolis. The Wangfujing Paleolithic Site is the first such find in a global city center. The site lies 12 meters below the surface and contains two layers of brownish-gray cultural strata. Across an area of about 2,000 square meters, over 2,000 cultural relics were unearthed. The soil layers of the site retain remnants from ancient humans’ campfires—charcoal pits, charcoal debris layers—as well as areas rich in bone fragments. Stone artifacts, bone artifacts, and evidence of fire use here remain in their original state as excavated. The museum officially opened in December 2001. Its most important exhibit is a roughly 50-square-meter plot of land from 25,000 years ago, which holds traces of ancient human fire use, burnt stones, burnt bones, stone artifacts, and animal fossils. Also on display are objects excavated from the original site, such as stone anvils, stone hammers, stone cores, and stone flakes, along with bones of primitive cattle, spotted deer, ostriches, and fish, and bone shovels and flakes made by humans more than 20,000 years ago. The artificial sand table, hanging paintings, and sculptures in the exhibition hall depict scenes from 25,000 years ago during the late Paleolithic period, showing how ancient humans in what is now Beijing’s Wangfujing area hunted, cooked, rested, and made tools.

　　Source: Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development