Go On a Chinese Bigfoot Expedition for Less Than $500

Shennongjia Savage (a/k/a Yeren, Chinese Bigfoot) Model at Shennongjia Natural Museum

"Shennongjia has its very own Bigfoot! Keep your cameras ready and your eyes peeled—capture this giant creature on film and you could earn a reward!" --CTrip.com

Ctrip is China's leading online travel agency. Plan your China itinerary, book hotels and cheap flights in China, book China tours, activities and vacation packages—and save money every step of the way! Starting September 5th they are offering guided tours into Shennongjia Nature Preserve where over 400 sightings of the Yeren have been recorded. Click the following links to learn more about the Yeren and the Shennongolia Nature Preserve

Below is the two-day itinerary for a trip that cost about 3,000.00 CNY ($472 US Dollars). The price goes down to $320/each if you bring a friend :

Day 1 Yichang-Shennongjia (includes lunch & dinner)
7:30-8:00 a.m. Pick-up 

Your English-speaking guide will meet you at your Yichang hotel and you will drive to Shennongjia.

12:30 p.m. Shennongjia: Muyu Town

Muyu is the main town in the renowned Shennongjia Forestry District and is the gateway to the Shennongjia Nature Reserve, a remarkable forest of metasequoias and Chinese tulip trees.

1:00 p.m. Lunch

Break for lunch in a local restaurant.

2:00 p.m. Shennongjia Nature Reserve

A region of stunning natural beauty, Shennongjia National Nature Reserve is listed on UNESCO's World Network of Biosphere Reserves for its high density of rare and remarkable flora and fauna. Foreigners are only permitted to enter the south of the Yazikou Junction area, an area that offers an abundance of trekking and hiking with caves, waterfalls and picturesque forests just waiting to be explored.

Shennongjia's mountain tops boast some of central China's most beautiful views and its well preserved forests are a haven for animals including the endangered Golden Monkey, and an unusual number of albino creatures including white bears, snakes and deer. It's also said to be home to a creature even more remarkable, and elusive—Shennongjia has its very own Bigfoot! This Ye Ren or "Wild Man" is said to stalk the woods with over 400 claimed sightings, large footprints and supposed lairs having been found. Keep your cameras ready and your eyes peeled—capture this giant creature on film and you could earn a reward!

6:00 p.m. Dinner

You’ll enjoy dinner in a local restaurant. After dinner, dependent on the weather, you can opt to join a campfire and watch traditional song and dance performances by the local Tujia minority (additional CNY 40).

7:00 p.m. Arrive at hotel

Overnight at a 3-star Shennongjia hotel.

Day 2 Shennongjia-Yichang (includes breakfast & lunch)

8:00 a.m. Depart hotel

Check out from hotel after breakfast and head to Shennong Altar.

8:30 a.m. Arrive at Shennong Altar

Shennong Altar is named for the worship of Emperor Shennong who ruled southern China 4,000 years ago. Shennong is said to be the first person to discover tea in China. The story goes that a tea leaf fell, quite by accident, into his cup of hot water and after drinking it he felt refreshed. After this great cultural discovery, he went on to contribute a great deal to the development of Chinese herbal restoratives.

Be sure to check out the 1,000 year old cedar tree on the east side of the Altar.

10:00 a.m. Arrive at Tiansheng Bridge National Geological Park

The next stop is Tiansheng Bridge National Geological Park. The highlight of this scenic area is, of course, Tiansheng Bridge, an amazing natural bridge formed by centuries of fast flowing mountain streams rushing against the rocks.  Explore the pine tree-covered hillsides, caves and thundering waterfalls of the area and keep an eye out for the groups of wild monkeys that like to come and play by the water.

11:00 a.m. Depart for Yichang

12:00 p.m. Lunch

On the way to Yichang, break for lunch in a local restaurant in Gufu. This town was relocated to make way for the Three Gorges Dam project and after lunch you will have some time to take a look around.

4:30 p.m. Arrive in Yichang

Back in Yichang you can choose to return to you hotel or join an optional tour to a traditional embroidery gallery.

At the embroidery gallery you'll have about 30-60 minutes to watch this exquisite art practiced by local minority people and pick up some souvenirs, returning to your hotel by 5:30 p.m.

One Man's Inspiring Story about China's Bigfoot

At age 62, Li Guohua, still looks for the Chinese Wildman.  

"Although I have seen the Wildman several times, I couldn't record it because it escaped too fast, and I didn't have a good camera to record faraway objects. Besides, it is too exhausting for a single man to search in such a large area." -- Li Guohua, Yeren Researcher

The Chinese version of Bigfoot is called YeRen (野人). It directly translates to Wild Man. Today at Chinese Daily you can read an article of a 62 year-old man who has been searching for the Wild Man for 30 years. This is a touching story unlike any Chinese-Yeren-Hubei Province-Shennongjia Region story we have shared with you so far. Its a little more personal.

In 2010 we shared the story about the Hubei Wild Man Research Association looking for 100 scientist and explorers. Later that year we shared the Yeti hair research by The Shennongjia Nature Reserve. More recently, earlier this year we announced China to Explore Virgin Forest Home of 'Bigfoot'. 

Now you can read a story about a man, not an institution, a man who's story is very similar to many Bigfooters here in the North America.

Cooking a meal in 1980. 

One man has made it his life mission to track down the mysterious 'Wildman' that is said to be roaming the mountains of Shennongjia. Wang Xiaodong reports in Shennongjia, Hubei province.

For the past three decades, Li Guohua has had just one mission in life: to find the legendary "Wildman" in the thick forests of Hubei province.

He can't recall how many times he almost lost his life to unexpected cold, falling into canyons or fighting bears. He was even mistaken by police for being an armed fugitive when trying to trace the ape-like Wildman in the mountains of Shennongjia, the scene of numerous witness reports of this elusive ape-man.

The retired 62-year-old firmly believes in the existence of Wildman and plans to organize an exploration team.

"Although I am not as vigorous as I used to be, I am still strong enough to climb mountains and with my experience I can guide young team members," he says. "I am sure I will find a Wildman and be able to provide solid evidence if I can get support from others."

Born in Yichang, Hubei province, Li says he has always been a curious person. "I was fascinated by the wilderness and forests when I was a child."

"When I was a boy, I would go to the woods near my home whenever I had a chance. I would roam there for hours, hunting birds and tasting different wild fruits, and hurried back home only when it began to get dark."

Li's first encounter with the Wildman was in 1972, when he found several "big footprints" while working in Muyu town as a logger.

"I had heard many stories about the Wildman. After I saw the big footprints my curiosity soared and I was convinced there must be such a creature in the forest."

Four years later he was working as an actor when he started his search.

"I heard five officials encountered a strange creature when driving on a mountain road. Locals talked about this for several days and I found it hard to calm down."

As his fellow performers in the troupe traveled to Wuhan for training, Li took off on his own up the mountain, with just some biscuits, a rope and steel bar.

He didn't find a Wildman but it was his first of many adventures.

"Whenever winter came, I just could not resist the temptation and would involuntarily find myself in forests. It was like I was enchanted," he says.

Li made his journeys of exploration mostly in winter as the light is better because the leaves have fallen, enabling him to find the creature's tracks. He spent days, even months, in the forest.

"To find a Wildman, you have to become a Wildman first. Like wild animals, the Wildman's senses are more acute than human beings and they can easily detect an approaching person."

Li pours scorn on the large-scale science exploration teams that are occasionally organized to search for the creature.

"These guys will never find anything new like a Wildman as they make too much noise, even if they are well equipped. To find a Wildman, you have to live in the mountains and merge with nature."

Spending time alone in harsh conditions comes easy to Li, who says he has been a loner since he was a child.

Speaking of being alone in the mountains, he says: "The solitude was so strong sometimes I became numb to the outside world. In addition, there was physical weakness caused by cold and fatigue. Sometimes, I was gripped by illusions and felt I could almost see Death."

Years of unrelenting effort, however, did bring some reward as Li saw the Wildman and its footprints on several occasions.

"It was the moment that I can never forget," he says of his first encounter with the beast, on Feb 28, 1980.

The Wildman appeared to be chasing him, Li says, possibly because it thought he was prey.

"I hid behind some trees and tried hard to contain my violently beating heart, closing my eyes for a while hoping I could see it more clearly later," he says.

As the creature came nearer, he could see clearly it resembled both a man and an ape. It was about 2.6 meters tall, with red hair all over its body, no tail, two arms waving as it walked like a man.

He was horrified but even so aimed his gun and pulled the trigger. But it failed to fire, as the charge was damp. He did not have a camera.

The creature turned around and ran swiftly toward a bamboo forest.

"Seeing the creature disappear, I collapsed on the snowy ground."

"When I returned haggard to the art troupe and saw my colleagues, I tried to say hello but could not remember their names, as I had been cut off from society for too long."

Since retiring a few years ago, Li's family of three has been relying on his monthly pension of about 2,000 yuan ($313). However, Li still continues the search.

"Once I receive a witness report from the villagers, I immediately go to the scene with them to check it out."

He blames lack of equipment and manpower on his inability to provide evidence of the creature's existence.

"Although I have seen the Wildman several times, I couldn't record it because it escaped too fast, and I didn't have a good camera to record faraway objects. Besides, it is too exhausting for a single man to search in such a large area."

He has published a book about his travails, with the help of Beijing Book House Technology & Culture Co.

"Li is a little obstinate and not very sociable," says Wang Wei, a marketing manager of the company. "But he is very focused on his pursuit. It is not easy in modern society, when many people just follow the trends and frequently shift focus."

"I hope I can find a sponsor and some volunteers so that I can continue with the search," Li says. "I have devoted all my life to the search and I hope I can put an end to this mystery so that I can be relieved before the end of my life."

Contact the writer at wangxiaodong@chinadaily.com.cn.

Zhou Lihua in Wuhan contributed to this story.

(China Daily 08/16/2012 page20)

CORRECTION: Initially we have stated that (野人) was translated as YaJin. We got this from Google translate (http://translate.google.com/#en/zh-CN/wild%20man). If you click the audio is is undeniably "Ya Jin". A fluent speaker has commented that this is incorrect. However, for what it is worth, YaJin is the Japanese word for the Yeti spelled in katakana as (やじん)..

China to Explore Virgin Forest Home of 'Bigfoot'

The Yeren, literally translated as "wild man". AKA The Chinese Bigfoot

The Chinese Wild Mand a/k/a Yeren, a/k/a Bigfoot is said to be living in the forests of the Shennongjia region. You can click on the following link to learn more about the Yeren, the Chinese Bigfoot.

Below is an article from China.org.cn: and of course at the end of the article is our entry on our international Bigfoot variants map

Researchers will start exploring large areas of primitive forest this month in the Shennongjia region of central China's Hubei province, local authorities said Sunday.

Located deep in the remote mountains of Hubei, the Shennongjia Nature Reserve has long been rumored to be the home of an elusive creature known in China as the "Yeren," or "Wild Man" in English. [File Photo]

A group of 38 experts from several universities and research institutions will begin the expedition on July 8, according to a statement from the Shennongjia Nature Reserve's management bureau.

The trip is scheduled to last through August, the statement said.

The group will focus on studying the region's animals, plants and land features and will publish its research results later, it said.

Located deep in the remote mountains of Hubei, the Shennongjia Nature Reserve has long been rumored to be the home of an elusive creature known in China as the "Yeren," or "Wild Man" in English. It is also referred to as "Bigfoot" after the legendary North American ape-man.

More than 400 people have claimed to have seen the Yeren in the Shennongjia area over the past century, but no hard evidence has been found to prove the creature's existence.

With abundant rain and water resources, Shennongjia is home to more than 3,700 species of plants and at least 1,050 kinds of animals. At least 40 of its plant species and 70 of its animal species are under state protection.

The region is also home to the rare golden monkey, which is on the verge of extinction and was first spotted in Shennongjia in the 1960s.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) added Shennongjia to its World Network of Biosphere Reserves in 1990.

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