Briefly

GANSU

Mogao Grottoes to reopen after outbreak

The Mogao Grottoes, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Dunhuang, Gansu province, will reopen on Thursday after being closed for over a month due to the latest COVID-19 outbreak, local authorities said on Wednesday. The Western Thousand-Buddha Caves and the Yulin Grottoes located in the region are also set to reopen on Thursday. Visitors to the three sites are required to book tickets online, undergo temperature monitoring and show their health QR code during entry, said the Dunhuang Academy, which administers the heritage sites.

SHANDONG

City offers vouchers to spur NEV consumption

Jinan will offer vouchers worth 10 million yuan ($1.6 million) to boost the city's consumption on new-energy vehicles, it announced on Tuesday. The vouchers, to be issued on Friday, are expected to drive 500 million yuan of automobile consumption, Zhao Chen, an official with the city's commerce bureau told a news briefing. Consumers can choose 1,000 yuan vouchers for vehicles costing less than 100,000 yuan and 5,000 yuan ones for cars above 200,000 yuan, Zhao said.

99,000-year-old bone tool discovered

Archaeologists have unearthed an ivory shovel dating back around 99,000 years at a paleolithic site in Shandong province, which is believed to be one of the earliest grinded bone tools found in China. Li Gang, a researcher at the provincial cultural relics and archaeological institute, said the strata of the site discovered in Yishui county is nearly eight meters thick. Eight cultural layers were uncovered and more than 5,000 pieces of stone artifacts, bone, tooth and horn products as well as animal fossils were excavated at the site. It is rare worldwide to have discovered ivory relics used for making practical tools around 100,000 years ago. Li said the ivory shovel and the soil of the same layer from the site were dated with both the uranium series method and photoluminescence method. The dating data show they are 99,000 and 104,000 years old, respectively.

Xinhua