What does Shennong Creek in the Three Gorges look like?

Shennong Creek is a constant-flowing stream on the north bank of the Yangtze River in Badong County, Hubei Province. It originates from the southern slope of Shennongjia, the "first peak in Central China", and runs through deep mountain canyons from south to north. It merges into the Yangtze River 2,000 meters east of the mouth of the gorge, with a total length of 60 kilometers. On both sides of the stream, there are towering mountains, meandering and stretching, with layers of mountains. It forms three natural gorge sections, namely Longchang Gorge, Parrot Gorge and Shennong Gorge, which are dangerous, beautiful and strange. The deep pools and clear water in the gorge, waterfalls everywhere, hanging coffin plank roads, primitive flat boats, Tujia customs, and stalagmite caves are all amazing. Shennong Creek is a national AAAAA-level scenic spot.

Shennong Creek is located in Badong County, Enshi Prefecture, Hubei Province. It is a regular flowing stream on the north bank of Wu Gorge in Badong County, with a total length of 60 kilometers. It originates from the southern foot of the primeval forest Shennongjia, running from north to south. , flows into the Yangtze River at the mouth of Wuxia Gorge in Badong County, Hubei Province. Shennong Creek is famous for its original, simple and pollution-free natural environment. It has beautiful natural scenery, charming cultural landscape and rich folk customs. It is known as the "Emerald Waterway" in the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River. The beautiful natural scenery and mysterious humanistic characteristics have made Shennong River a popular tourist attraction with a high reputation at home and abroad. It is a national AAAAA-level tourist attraction.

The primeval forest at the source of Shennong Creek is home to rare rare birds and animals, such as flying squirrels, golden monkeys, Sumatran antelopes, etc., especially white animals, such as white pheasants, white snakes, white goats, white golden monkeys, etc. . There are also many precious plants growing here, such as wintersweet, fragrant chrysanthemum, celestial green onion, female magnolia, fragrant fruit tree, rock cabbage, etc. It is dazzling.

Among them, the Davidia involucrata is particularly eye-catching. The trees are tall and majestic, and the flowers are white and flawless. The flowers covering the branches are like white doves spreading their wings, hence the name "Pigeon Tree". According to relevant information, this tree became extinct after the Quaternary glaciers. The unique natural geographical environment of Shennongjia allowed the involucrata to escape the fate of extinction and be preserved. Nowadays, Davidia involucrata, as a beautiful symbol of peace, has already gone abroad and gone to the world.

Natural conditions:

The total length of Shennong Creek is 60 kilometers, with 17 streams and 8 100-meter waterfalls along the way. The stream flows southward through deep mountain canyons and flows into The mighty Yangtze River. Drifting along the river in an ancient small boat called "Wandoujiao", you can see that there are many 80 to 90-degree cliffs on both sides of the bank, which stand steeply and are continuous with the mountains. The relative height difference between the peaks is 300 meters to 1,200 meters above sea level, and the narrow part between the walls is only 7 meters. Two small mountain villages divide the 20-kilometer section into three gorge sections: Mianzhu, Parrot, and Longchang Cave. Each has its own characteristics of "dangerous, beautiful, and majestic." The cliffs are not only densely covered with stalactites and strange rock peaks, but also large and small. There are more than 60 caves, and most of the cave entrances have stone and earth walls, leaving traces of ancient wars. It is also famous for Longchang Cave and Yanziqian. Longchang Cave is not a stone cave, it is 10 miles long and can be visited by floating boats. Yanziqian Cave is 80 meters high and 30 meters wide. Thousands of short-billed swiftlets live on the top of the rock wall in the cave all year round, flying high in the sky deep in the canyon, bringing a festive atmosphere to tourists. In Yanziqian Cave, there is a "field of thousands of hills" formed by magma accumulation, with criss-crossing roads, which is a spectacular sight. Shennong River is winding and has a large drop, forming more than 60 beaches of different lengths and speeds. It is said that there are "three bays in one mile, and three beaches in one bay". There are many shoals, the water depth is less than 0.5 meters, the water is shallow and stagnant, the bottom of the boat rubs against the pebbles, just like a boat on land. The average drop of more than 30 rapids is 1.7 meters, and the highest is 3 meters. Drifting on the boat is like an arrow. Li Xian allows people to appreciate the infinite fun of fighting with nature without any danger.

Climate Characteristics

The climate of Shennong River is based on the subtropical monsoon climate. As the altitude increases, it gradually appears in various types such as warm humid zone, mid-temperate zone, and cold wave zone. The extreme low temperature in the territory is -21℃, and the extreme high temperature is 38.5℃.

The Shennong River flows through three canyons with different scenery - Mianzhu Gorge, Parrot Gorge and Longchangdong Gorge. The scenery on both sides of the river is wonderful, and there are few open spaces in the canyon. At the narrowest point, the distance between the two banks is only 7 meters. Boating in the gorge is like passing through a secluded alley with heavy doors. Mountain peaks hundreds of meters high were coming towards us, and we could barely see the waterway in front of us.

In the Mianzhu Gorge, which is famous for its dangers, there are many caves on the cliffs that are difficult to climb, huge stalactites hanging upside down, the river bed is narrow and the drop is large, and there are more than 30 dangerous shoals of various sizes in the 4-kilometer channel. Rafting by boat depends entirely on the skill of the boatman. It makes your heart beat fast, but it is safe without any danger.

The last canyon of Shennong River is Longchangdong Gorge. The width of this gorge is less than 20 meters. The two sides of the gorge stand in the water. It is continuous and twists and turns for more than 5,000 meters. There is a large Leitang Gorge. The hero of the door. Along the way, you can see cultural landscapes - rock coffins and ancient plank roads. On the cliff 150 meters above the water on the east bank of the gorge, there are many small caves with rock coffins placed in different depths, which are clearly visible to the naked eye.

Parrot Gorge is the most beautiful of the three gorges. The vegetation on both sides is hanging like tassels, evergreen all year round, rocks seeping with water, waterfalls and springs, and wonders appear again and again. There is a section of the canyon where you can see blooming flowers no matter in the middle of winter or hot summer, so it is called "Nianhua Beach"; there is a place called "Nine Waters", where multiple streams of spring water gush out from the springs beside the stream, distinguishing between clear, turbid and mixed colors. , because of its name "Three Color Spring".

Humanistic legends

According to legend, human beings are still in the ancient times when they eat hair and drink blood. The plague is prevalent, and there are constant mourning and starvation all over the world. In order to save the people, Emperor Yan Shennong came to the dangerous mountains and dense forests in northwest Hubei, tasted all kinds of herbs, collected medicines to treat diseases, and selected seeds for sowing the fields.

However, no matter how powerful Shennong was, he could not climb the towering cliffs. So, he built thirty-six ladders and climbed to the place where the cliffs were lined. Later, a dense primitive forest grew out of the place where the ladders were set up. forest. In memory of him, people call this world-class forest park "Shennonjia". After Shennong traveled through the dense mountains of Shennongjia and tasted all kinds of herbs, he wanted to take the Yangtze River, pass by Dongting Lake, and then cross the Xiangjiang River. When he came down from the top of the mountain, he found a winding stream blocking his way. Because Emperor Yan was not good at swimming in water, he was helpless in the face of the surging stream. Suddenly a wooden raft floated from the upper reaches. Emperor Yan was overjoyed. He quickly jumped on the raft and successfully drifted the stream to the Yangtze River. Later, people called the stream through which Shennong drifted down the mountain "Shen Nong Creek".