Shennongjia

Rising as the highest summit in Central China, Shennong Peak wears fir forests and seas of cloud, sheltering relict plants that survived the Quaternary glaciations.

Shennongjia shelters the easternmost wild population of golden snub-nosed monkeys in China, with a core breeding habitat and a national research base.

A rare subalpine sphagnum bog in Central China, Dajiuhu links nine lakes where black storks, whooper swans and other uncommon birds find refuge.

Honouring Shennong, the legendary ancestor who tasted a hundred herbs, this altar stands amid a natural treasury of over a thousand authentic medicinal plants.

Landscapes Join the World Heritage List

Huangshan was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1990, and by 2017 Mount Wutai, Longhushan, Xinjiang Tianshan, Guilin, Shennongjia, Hoh Xil and other Chinese mountain and landscape sites had followed.

In 2016, Hubei Shennongjia was inscribed for its extensive primary forests and exceptional biodiversity in Central China.

A Shennongjia tradition tells of Shennong gathering medicinal herbs and tasting plants in the mountain forest.