5 Days in Shennongjia

Base in Muyu, the visitor town at about 1,200 metres — fly-ins land at the 2,584-metre airport opened in May 2014, or ride up from Xingshan on the 2022 Zhengwan line. The 21-metre stone figure at Shennong Tan overlooks the valley.

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2. shennongjia xiangxi source

The ridge tops out at 3,106.2 metres, the highest point in central China; the Shennong Valley boardwalk runs some 4 km along the cliffs, and Xiaolongtan's rescue station keeps golden monkeys rescued from the wild — a 2022 survey counted 1,471 across roughly 400 sq km of habitat.

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West over the pass, nine lakes string across a 1,700-metre basin of peat and pasture; the boardwalk loops make an easy half-day before the ride back over the pass.

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North toward Songbai, the Tianyan pass runs near 2,200 metres; the swallow cave hosts colonies of short-tailed swifts in season, and the Rainbow Bridge spans the gap between the ridges.

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Guanmenshan's museum halls lay out the region's geology — the reserve joined UNESCO's Man and Biosphere network in 1990 and the World Heritage list in 2016; the Tianshengqiao trail passes a cave bridge and waterfall. Late bus down the mountain.

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