Shennongjia is one of the best preserved primitive forests in China. It is reputed as the mysterious shelter for different creatures not only because it boasts large quantities of wild animals and plants, but also it conserves most rare species.
Situated in western Hubei Province, it covers an area of over 3,000 square kilometers (1,158 square miles). There are over 20 scenic spots scattered in Shennongjia area including Fengjingya, Hongping Valley, Shennong Top, Source of Fragrant Brook and Dajiu Lake.
Shennong Top, famous as the first peak in central China, is about 3,105.4 meters (10,188.3 feet) above sea level, where trails of ancient floods can still be seen through the mountain top.
The special terrain here creates a warm and humid climate, making it a paradise for plants and animals at the meeting point of North and South China.
Since the Jurassic period of Mesozoic Era, there have sheltered and preserved lots of ancient and the peculiar plants as the climate changed slightly and it suffered less from the glacial period. Shennongjia possesses thousands of botanic species, in which the endangered plants are found like alsophila spinulosa, once the food to feed dinosaur, davidia involucrate, similar to white pigeon in flower, Paris polyphylla, which is antipyretic etc, hence, it is known as 'the Oriental Botanic Garden'.
The luxuriant plants set the stage for the reproduction of the abundant animals, so Shennongjia is one of the reserves that shelter most subtropical zoological species. There still remain many species to be discovered. Up till now, the discovery and research have confirmed 285 sorts of birds, 77 kinds of beasts, 60 types of amphibious reptiles together with thousands of classes of insects. The endangered golden monkeys and papilio glaucus in black and yellow can be found here.
Shennongjia is also one of the places veiling with mystery flavor. The quaint albinistic animals and legend of savages shrouded this primitive forest with more mystical atmosphere.
In Shennongjia forest, people discovered many animals in white, such as white bear, white snake, white monkey, white roebuck, white magpie, white weasel and so forth. It is actually quite an occasional phenomenon in nature that some animals suffer albefaction in consequence of the genetic mutation. However, it astonishes the scientists quite a lot that the albinism occurs in Shennongjia so extensively.
The legend of savages has been going round in Shennongjia area for long, which has remained a natural mystery. In the past several years, hundreds of the local villagers have claimed their observation of the haunt of Shennongjia by the weird animals resembling humans to some extent. Scientists came here to make the investigation for four times, as a result, no savages were found out but the traces of fur and footprint left by the unknown animals, which caused more imagination and speculation on the savages.
So far, the mystery of Shennongjia has still not been unveiled. In its broad expanse, the known and unknown animals and plants live their life at ease. The verdant stretch of forest is breathtaking and imaginable.
Entrance Fee:
CNY 140 for Shennong Top; CNY 120 for Dajiu Lake;
CNY 30 for Source of Fragrant Brook;
Transportation:
A. Take the long-distance bus from Wuhan to Xingshan County at Wuhan Xinhua Road Long-distance Bus Station, and then take a mini bus from Xingshan County to Muyu Town in Shennongjia;
B. Take the train from Wuhan to Shiyan, then take a bus from the long-distance bus station to Shennongjia.
