A large scale renovation of the Peking Man site at Zhoukoudian on Beijing's southwestern outskirts ended Friday.

The three-month renovation makes it possible for the ruins to sustain earthquake measuring 8 on the Richter scale, said Yang Haifeng, director of the administrative section of Zhoukoudian.

A survey, launched in August last year, showed seven of the eight fossil zones at Zhoukoudian are facing erosion. Mining and road construction around the ruins also posed threats to its protection.

The condition of Zhoukoudian has drawn the concern of the Beijing Cultural Relics Bureau. A major renovation on the ruins started last July. Workers have reinforced the roof of the museum housing the ruins and five other spots.

Chinese archaeologists unearthed the first complete skull Peking Man, dating back 500,000 years, in 1929 at Zhoukoudian, about 50 km southwest of downtown Beijing. The discovery stunned the world. China has since discovered five other complete Peking Man skulls, but three were lost during World War II. The latest two were found in 1996.

In 1987, Zhoukoudian was listed as a World Cultural Heritage.

(Xinhua News Agency October 30, 2004)