Shennongjia Forest Reserve Hidden away 200km north of Yichang in Hubei’s far west, Shennongjia orest Reserve encloses a rough crowd of mountains rising to tile 3053- metre-high Da Shennongjia, tile tallest peak in central China. Botanically, this is one of the country’s richest corners, famed for its plant life ever since the Taoist immortal and legendary Xia king Shennong - also credited with introducing mankind to farnfing, medicine, and tea - scoured these heights for herbs. More recently, the botanist Ernest Wilson found several new species for London’s Kew Gardens here in the early ,twentieth century. Intriguingly, Shenn0ngjia has since hosted sightings of the Chinese wild man, whose existence seems far from impossible in this stronghold of ancient plants - and even ifthese elude you, there’s a good chance of seeing endangered golden mon- keys here. On few tourist agendas, Shennongjia is nonetheless easy to reach from Yichang- three days is enough for a quick return trip - though most of the region is actually off-limits to foreigners. Chinese maps highlight the cen- tral Shennongjia town (known locally as Songbai) as an access point go here and you will be arrested, fined and booted out by the PSB. As all transport beyond Muyu travels via Songbai, it is not possible to continue north to Shiyan and Wudang Shan, however easy this appears on a map. Neither Yichang’s PSB nor CITS are clued up to the situation, and will blithely suggest travelling through the restricted zone. If you stick to the open area around the village of Muyu Zhen, however, you’ll have a trouble-free trip; iust remember that its altitude makes the region very cold in winter, and file reserve can be snowbound between November and May.