In the 1920s and 1930s, excavations in the limestone caves of Dragon Bone Hill at Zhoukoudian, south-west of Beijing, uncovered the remains of early humans who lived here hundreds of thousands of years ago. They became known as Peking Man, a population of Homo erectus, and in 1929 the Chinese archaeologist Pei Wenzhong found a nearly complete skull. The fossils caused a sensation, offering evidence of early humans in Asia and their use of fire. Then, in 1941, during the Japanese occupation, the original bones were packed for shipment to the United States and vanished; their fate remains one of the great mysteries of archaeology. The site is listed by UNESCO, and a museum displays casts and later finds.
The caves lie in the foothills of the Western Hills, near the town of Fangshan, where the North China Plain meets the mountains. The hills are dry and rocky, with scrub and pine plantations, and the area around has quarries and villages. Further into the mountains, the Shidu gorges offer karst scenery, with limestone peaks, rivers and caves, and the Yunju temple, with thousands of Buddhist scriptures carved in stone, is nearby.
Riding in the Beijing area comes with complications. Motorcycles face restrictions in central Beijing, with bans on certain roads and in the inner districts for motorcycles without local plates, and foreign riders need special permits to ride in China. Organised tours with local guides are the usual way. Outside the city, the roads into the Western Hills are twisty and scenic, with mountain villages and temples, and they are popular with local motorcyclists on weekends. Air quality can be poor, especially in winter. Summer is hot and humid, autumn is clear and pleasant.
Fangshan sorts out fuel and lunch. Food in the Beijing area includes Peking duck, of course, along with noodles, dumplings and street snacks. In the mountains, farmhouse restaurants serve local dishes with vegetables and meat from the area. Visit the museum to understand the significance of the finds, then walk up to the caves on the hill; the view over the plain is good, and you are standing where some of the earliest humans in this part of the world sat by their fires.