Preservation work is to start at Zhoukoudian, the site of a major archaeological and anthropological find in the 1920's.

Repairs will be carried out to the caves where the remains of Peking Man, an ancient ancestor of humans, were found.

Some 2 million yuan, or US$240,000 is being spent to protect individual places from the elements.

Experts say Beijing's hot-and-cold weather is the biggest risk to fossils.

The long-anticipated blueprint of the Zhoukoudian World Relics Park will also be made public when then repairs begin next Thursday.

(Chinabroadcast.cn July 16, 2004)