Shennongding Summit Area

Shennongding, the highest peak in the reserve and in all of central China outside the Tibetan Plateau, sits in the northwestern section of the reserve and is accessible by road to within a short hike of the summit. The upper slopes above 2,500 metres are covered in old-growth fir and spruce, giving way near the summit to alpine meadows and exposed rock with views on clear days across ridge after ridge of forested mountains reaching to the horizon.

The summit area has a small visitor infrastructure — observation platforms and marked trails — but retains a genuine high-altitude character. The air temperature at the summit is significantly cooler than at the reserve entrances, making it a relief in summer and requiring warm clothing even in early autumn. In late September and October the beech and maple forests below the treeline turn gold and red across entire hillsides in colour displays that rank among the best autumn foliage in central China. The drive to the Shennongding area takes about an hour from Muyu town on the reserve's southern edge.

things to do sight
A story
At 3,106 metres, Shennongding is the highest point in central China outside Tibet. The mountain is named for Shennong — the Divine Farmer — one of the mythological ancestors of Chinese civilization, who is said to have climbed these peaks to identify medicinal plants by tasting them. The Bencao Gangmu, the great sixteenth-century Chinese pharmacopoeia, draws on a tradition of botanical knowledge that traces itself to Shennong's work in precisely these mountains.