After a few days touring Beijing and seeing the normal Great, Forbidden and Heavenly sights, I noticed the guidebook mentioned the Peking Man Site in Zhoukoudian as being reasonably nearby. After several days of temples and castles and with the Chinese National Holiday promising to swamp every tourist location in Beijing, I thought it might be nice to take a trip out to see Peking Man’s cave.

I can’t really do a good look at the literature since most of the stuff is in Chinese or too old to access easily while traveling (made even more difficult thanks to China’s Great Firewall). But from what I gathered from some Googling and the site’s museum, Peking Man was actually the fossilized remains of a bunch of male, female and child (they weren’t too big on political correctness back then) Homo erectus, the hominid (almost but not quite human [i.e. cavemen]) species thought to be closest related to humans. Bones were first found in Zhoukoudian in 1923 and pieces from several individuals were found before World War II. At the start of the war, the scientists decided to send the bones to America for safety but somewhere along the way the shipment disappeared. This was a major loss to science (but luckily there were some casts made of the fossils so at least some information is still available). Effort to track down the missing fossils was renewed in the last couple years but their location remains a mystery. Since the loss, further excavations have turned up additional specimens including additional parts of of a prewar skull. The bones are estimated to be between 500,000 and 250,000 years old.

Interestingly, although Homo erectus lived in Asia for hundreds of thousands of years, genetic analysis of 12,000 men across Asia showed that all had a mutation in the Y chromosome though to have originated in Africa in the last 90,000 years. This likely means that modern humans (H. sapiens) migrated out of Africa and displaced/eradicated the native Peking Men (H. erectus).

Anyway back to the travel. Unfortunately, it turned out that the holiday also swamped the bus and the highway so I was stuck standing squished in the aisle while the bus crawled through a three hour traffic jam. Once we finally got to Zhoukoudian, the buildings and houses on the walk to the site looked a little run down but everyone we asked for directions met was very friendly with a few kids even playing the yell “Hello!” at the foreigner game.

The guidebook describes the site as “geared towards specialists” and “suffer[ing] neglect recently” so I was a bit worried. But I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived. It seems quite well maintained and, in fact, it seemed they had an overabundance of staff (although no English speakers) probably due to funding from it’s World Heritage designation. Most of the museum has English captions and I found it pretty interesting. The high point was of course the hominid bones from the site. Most of the bones were labeled as reproductions but a few were not. I don’t know if that means those bones were real or just that someone forgot the label. Hopefully it was the former. The museum also had some of the stone tools made by the ancient people and evidence of fires. The museum claims that there are several layers of the excavation that were full of ash but I’ve since read that this evidence of fire use is disputed. Recent more detailed examination found that this ash-like material was actually not ash but deposits from a quiet pond type environment although there were definitely a lot of burned animal bones. This makes the claim that Peking Man used fire questionable although it seems to me (note I’m not a anthropologist) like a body of water in the back of a cave might make for a good garbage disposal (which on further investigation seems to be roughly what this scientist is saying).

The museum also shows some rather formidable skulls of giant hyenas found in the cave. These hyenas seem to have alternated habitation of the cave with Peking Man and several layers of the excavation had numerous hyena poop fossils (called coprolites if Jeopardy ever asks). Some scientists suggest that Peking Man did not actually live in the cave and that the bones found are just the unlucky prey of the hyenas. The most recent article (currently directly available here) I could find (in my limited search) weighs in strongly for this hypothesis. The researchers point out that only fragmented pieces of bones have been found and that most arm, rib and leg bones are missing just like in modern hyena dens. They also looked at all the bones and suggest that almost all of them show marks of large predator chewing (one example shown in the picture to the right). But they do point out that there are numerous artifacts and burned bones found from within the cave so Peking Man must have had at least a “transient” (I’m not sure what transient means when the time scale is measured in hundreds of thousands of years) presence. I was a bit disappointed at first when I read this but then I realized I had been to the site of a 200,000 year battle between (almost) humans and beast.

I managed to get side tracked by the science again. Back to the travelling. After the museum, there is a nice little path that visits the remnants of the famous cave. I believe most of the cave collapsed some thousands of years ago and there have been intense excavations so I’m not exactly sure what part of this is actually where the hyenas and Peking Man would have been but it’s still pretty cool to walk inside and see it. Megaphone toting tour guides come through every 10 minutes or so but if you get there in between them you can actually have the whole place to yourself. Which reminds me, even during Golden Week the site was not busy. I guess it’s too far (although not that far if you’re not stuck in holiday traffic) out of Beijing and not as catchy as the (hundreds of times younger) Great Wall or Ming Tombs.

After the cave, we came to what was for me the most striking part of the tour, the location where the main excavation had occurred. Scientists had dug more down more than 100 feet into the dirt and debris filling the old cave and found bones throughout. This really brought home that fact that Peking Man had been living in (or around) this cave long enough for 100 feet of dust and debris to build up. 250,000 years. More than 3,000 (modern) lifetimes. 60 times longer than recorded history.

I wasn’t sure if this was the actual excavation site but this article about fire use shows this very location (shown to the right) being researched. Definitely a very cool site and well worth visiting even with the traffic and sardine-like bus experience (which should be an unusual event).

Directions

To get there, take bus 917 from Tianqiao Station in Beijing (9 元 [$1.5]). But you have to be careful because there’s 4 or 5 different 917′s, you want the plain 917 without the extra symbols. Once you get on the right 917 go until Zhoukoudian (周口店) Daokou station (actually just a sign next to the road). The bus station should be on one leg of a T-intersection. To get to the Peking Man Site, walk back to the T, turn left (away from the gas station) and walk about 15 minutes. Once you cross a bridge over a small creek the road should turn right and the entrance to the Peking Man continues straight. Or you could just take a taxi which shouldn’t be more than 15 元 ($2). The ticket for Peking Man Site was 30 元 ($4).

This article provides a decent (although biased towards Peking Man) review of the science and theories surrounding the site. It might be worth a quick skim if you’re planning on going and don’t feel like reading any of the ones above (I wish I would have read up a bit first to appreciate the site better but it was a spontaneous visit). This recent article mentioned above provides a more hyena-oriented perspective and some nice maps (which I wish would have been shown at the site so I’ll include one of their several below).

I spent a year as an exchange student in Hiroshima University. I still get some odd questions when I say I stayed in Hiroshima. It seems some people think it’s something like the abandoned quarantine zone of Chernobyl (perhaps with added Godzilla). But in fact, by the time Americans entered Hiroshima less than two months after the bomb, radiation levels were barely above the US health guidelines for acceptable radiation exposure (well below the guidelines for occupational exposure). In any case, current radiation levels are indistinguishable from anywhere else in the world and the city is home to more than 1,100,000 people.

So now that that’s covered, I thought I’d list a few things worth doing and seeing in Hiroshima (it’s been a few years now so my apologies if anything has changed):

Okonomiyaki

The signature dish of Hiroshima (it seems whenever you travel in Japan that trying the area’s food is as important as seeing the sights). Make sure you get the true Hiroshima-style with layers of crepe, cabbage, meat, noodles, egg, sauce, sea weed and fish flakes. I recommend asking for mochi (pounded rice cakes) too. Watching them cook on the hot griddle right in front of you is half the fun (although [thankfully] there aren’t any Japanese steakhouse theatrics).

The best place to have okonomiyaki is in Okonomi Village, with about 25 different Okonomiyaki stalls in one building. It’s really something to see 3 floors of stores all selling the same thing and trying to attract the customers. It’s right near the central shopping center of Hiroshima so it’s pretty convenient (map). (By the way, if anyone knows anywhere to get okonomiyaki in the US or Canada, let me know. I haven’t found it anywhere.)

Miyajima

Japanese are big fans of ranking and the ‘floating’ arch of Itsukushima Shrine on Miyajima Island is listed as one of the top three most beautiful places in Japan (it’s also a World Heritage Site). The beauty of the arch is a bit decreased by the urban sprawl across the water (and the fact that it’s an arch stuck in the mud) but the whole island is pretty cool to walk around and see all the shrines and temples. There’s a really nice walk to the top of a mountain with a rewarding view (and sometimes wild monkeys) or if you’re less hiking-inclined you can take a cable car to the top. The friendly deer are also neat although not if you have anything edible (including maps) on your person.

Speaking of eating, the famous food from Miyajimi is momiji manju (I told you food was important), maple leaf-shaped waffle-like creations with centers filled with red bean paste or other deserts. It’s worth getting a fresh one if you are there.

Street cars

There’s something special about riding a trolley around a city and Hiroshima is one of the few cities left with street cars. They’re really convenient and they can take you from the main train station to the shopping center/Okonomi-mura area (also walkable) or to the ferry to Miyajima Island (a fair distance out of town). Although I didn’t know it when I was there, a couple of these cars are from before the war so it’s almost like riding in a museum (#651 and 652 according to Wikipedia). They’re also pretty cheap.

Hiroshima Castle Himeji Castle

Although interesting if Hiroshima is the only place you are visiting in Japan, I think Himeji Castle which lies on the bullet train route between Hiroshima and the rest of Japan’s major cities is much more interesting than the reconstructed Hiroshima Castle. Himeji is ranked one of the top three castles in Japan (told you they liked rankings) and is a World Heritage Site. The castle was constructed in 1601 and never attacked (it’s three moats and mazelike entryway may have contributed to that). If you want to get in the mood before your visit, I recommend watching Kurosawa’s Ran, which was filmed in Himeji. Don’t forget to look for the haunted well of Okiku the Maid.

Mitaki Temple

This one I don’t think you’ll find in guide books. In fact, I was surprised to find Wikipedia had an entry for it. Some Japanese friends showed me this one and I really enjoyed it, especially since it’s off the beaten tourist trail. To get to Mitaki Temple take the Kabe Line from Hiroshima Station to Mitaki Station (an interesting example of the more rural stations with no staff, or buildings for that matter). Once you get off the train, walk up the road (map) to the beginning of the foot path to the temple. You’ll pass a cemetery on the way where it’s kind of interesting to see the difference between Western and Japanese grave markers.

Once you get to the temple grounds, it’s a nice uphill walk past several temples, waterfalls (Mitaki means 3 waterfalls) and statues. Once you get to the topmost temple, you can continue walking behind it to pass through some bamboo forest (e.g. Crouching Tiger) and eventually end up on a mountain top with a great view of Hiroshima City.

Sake Festival

If you’re going to be there in October (October 15th this year), the Sake Matsuri (Festival) in Saijyo, about a half hour east of Hiroshima City, is pretty fun. Saijyo is one of top two places for rice wine making in Japan. On this weekend, all the breweries open up and give tours. Like almost every festival in Japan, there is drumming and parades with people carrying around big heavy floats during the day. There are also tasty snacks like dough balls with octopus inside and squid on a stick. In the evening, they cordon off a big area and for about $10 you can sample as much sake as you want from about 1000 different types. You’ll never look at sake the same way again. The good sake goes quick so get there early.

Peace Park

I left this until the end because it’s what most people think about when they hear Hiroshima but I wanted to point out that it’s not the only thing. That said, although it’s hard to talk about in the tourist sense, the park is definitely a must visit. Before you get to the park, a site that really brings home the recovery of Hiroshima is the center of the blast, indicated only by a small stone marker on the sidewalk between a multistory parking garage and a hotel (map).

The most famous part of the park is the Genbaku Dome, a building that managed to partially survive the explosion and was left as it was to serve as a memorial. It’s a World Heritage Site and seems to be the most photographed scene in Hiroshima but I really found some of the other parts of the park more moving (which perhaps is also why people find it easier to photograph the dome). The Children’s Peace Monument dedicated to children who died from the radiation and in particular Sadako Sasaki, a girl who folded 1000 paper cranes in the hope that it would help cure her cancer, is also on the grounds. A Cenotaph containing the 250,000 names of those who died from the bomb and its aftereffects and the Peace Museum showing the horrors of that day continue the somber tour. The most striking part of the park for me was a simple grass mound with a plaque beside it explaining that contained within were the ashes of 70,000 unidentified people.