Beijing News: Jurassic Fossil Footprints & Citywide Upgrades

Beijing is a happening city! Don't miss a thing with our weekend roundup of the latest news.

Beijing Student Makes Important Fossil Find

In January of last year, the first ever Jurassic amphibian footprint fossil found in Asia was discovered in Mentogou District, and the results of the study of the discovery were published this year on Jan 30 in the scientific journal Ichnos, a journal dedicated to research in the field of ichnology, the study of the fossilized evidence of animal life and behavior through examination of the evidence of tracks, imprints, burrows or other fossilized evidence – traces – they have left behind. 

Perhaps just as impressive as what was discovered are the details of how and by whom it was discovered. A primary school student, Ni Jingchen, was out exploring nature with his parents near the Jiulong Lu Forest Protection Site when he came upon a rock slab with the fossilized footprints.

Ni, who had developed a love of fossils from an early age, posted on social media about what he had found, and his post caught the attention of a professor at the School of Earth Sciences and Resources, China University of Geosciences (Beijing). A research team from the university was assembled, which Ni then led to the site of his discovery. Ni was also able to follow and closely observe the research team in their work. 

It is believed that the footprints were left by the same animal, most likely a kind of small, early salamander. There are two prints preserved on the same slab, with one a clear impression of the animal’s left front foot only 1.5cm long and 1.3cm wide and the other a poorly preserved, short, blurred imprint about 1.1cm long and 1.4cm wide overall. 

The rock in which the fossil is located is part of an important coal-containing layer in the Mentougou area, and it is a frequent site of discovery for fossils of plant leaves such as ferns. Ni’s finding suggests that smaller amphibian species that were adapted to land-based activities already existed in the lake-swamp environment of this area during the Middle Jurassic Period, as part of a complex ecosystem together with an abundance of ferns, ginkgo biloba and sauropods.

Beijing to Implement Citywide Upgrades

On Feb 3, city officials published the “Beijing Important Livelihood Realities Project for 2026,” listing a number of projects that will be undertaken in 2026 in order to improve the lives of Beijing residents across several categories, including childcare and education, care of the elderly, healthcare, transportation and traffic, green living and building facility upgrades.

Major objectives of the project are as follows:

Early Childhood Care and Education

• Promote the addition of 1,000 childcare enrollment spots for children aged 2-3 in 50 kindergartens
• Conduct full vision screening and myopia risk assessment for 134,000 children in the last year of kindergarten (大班) 
• Add 10,000 secondary school enrollment spots, including 5,000 junior high spots and 5,000 high school secondary spots

Elderly Care

• Build 20 new regional elderly care service centers in sub-districts (streets/townships) with high concentrations of very advanced age seniors, providing one-stop nearby services such as meal assistance, bathing assistance, cleaning assistance, professional care, and integrated medical care
• Add 5,000 home-based elderly care beds

Assistance for People with Disabilities and Other Vulnerable Groups 

• Create 2,500 new employment positions for people with disabilities
• Provide vocational skills training to 5,000 people with disabilities
• Offer rehabilitation training to 2,000 children with disabilities
• Upgrade and improve barrier-free facilities in 600 public venues
• Equip 30,000 sets of four-piece escape and self-rescue kits (networked standalone fire alarms, fire extinguishers, fire blankets and escape masks) for groups with limited fire escape and self-rescue capabilities

Employment Promotion

• Provide no fewer than 100,000 employment positions for college graduates
• Facilitate employment for 100,000 unemployed individuals

Medical Services

• Establish five new tightly integrated urban medical groups
• Add 15 new birth-friendly hospitals
• Add 15 hospitals offering multidisciplinary joint outpatient services
• Add 45 traditional Chinese medicine symptom-based clinics in community health service centers

Housing and Convenience for Residents 

• Promote the installation of at least 800 elevators in old buildings
• Complete safety assessments for 6,000 old residential elevators
• Promote the renewal and renovation of over 10,000 old residential elevators
• Facilitate the introduction of property management services in more than 800 old residential communities without property management
• Install intelligent recyclable waste collection machines in more than 3,000 communities or villages
• Renew and renovate 1,000km of old pipelines for gas, heating, electricity and water supply
• Replace 700,000 smart electricity meters
• Complete intelligent upgrades for heating systems covering 20 million square meters

Travel Convenience 

• Ensure subway Line 22 (Hongmiao–Pinggu) is basically ready for opening  
• Open the Suburban Railway City Sub-Center Line (Beijing West–Fangshan)
• Open specific station exits, such as Huoshenying Station exit A2 on Line 10, Jijiamiao Station exit C on Line 10, Wangjing South Station exit B2 on Line 14
• Complete the comprehensive management of non-motorized vehicles parking around 80 subway stations
• Implement 30 municipal congestion projects such as road renovations, widening bottleneck roads and opening 50 bypass roads
• Add 10,000 paid staggered shared parking spaces
• Utilize civil air defense engineering to add 5000 parking spaces
• Coordinate the use of vacant land and idle space to create 20,000 new parking spaces in the central urban area
• Rehabilitate and upgrade the under-bridge spaces of 46 key bridges

Leisure and Livability/Green Space

• Build 1,000km of new greenways
• Complete the “Rose Ring” around the Fourth Ring Road
• Build 50 community micro-gardens and 100 “gold and silver” corner urban micro-gardens  
• Upgrade ten age-friendly parks and ten suburban parks in greenbelt areas 
• Complete waterfront pathways along sections of the Qinghe River, Yongding River, Yongding River Diversion Canal and Wenyu River

Cultural Activities and Sports

• Hold 16,000 cultural events this year for residents
• Launch 100 exhibitions and 100 cultural events, including on the origins of Chinese civilization
• Hold 200 mass events such as ping pong community leagues and community cup soccer matches
• Build or renovate 70 sports venues 
• Add 25 sports facilities to parks

Cultural Heritage

• Promote the “One Hundred Thousand Projects” and implement the construction of 20 demonstration villages and ten demonstration areas
• Establish 20 rural leisure routes and 50 research, gathering and leisure sites

READ: Juicy Burger Fest Beijing & Shanghai 2026 Dates Set

Images: Unsplash