YEREN: The Wild Man of Shennongjia

Much has been written in the annals of cryptozoology about the wild man of central China but very few foreigners have actually conducted field research in the region.Below are a series of photos taken from my Febuary 2010 Yeren investigation deep into Hubei province.I had just finished a 6-month stint as an ESL teacher in  the city of Nanning and my reward was a weeklong cryptozoological excursion into the infamous  Shennongjia National Park.An incredibly diverse region with  habitats ranging from sub-tropical to alpine and Yeren reports since time immemorial.

                                           

 

  



After a several days of exploring the forests in southern part of the park I headed up north to the restricted area around the town of Songbai.It was here that I wanted to trek and visit the

Shennongjia Museum of Natural History where Yeren casts and a model are supposedly on display.After successfully getting through two checkpoints I walked around the town in search of accommodation.After passing a large police station several times I found a small hotel where I checked in without any difficulties.For the next few hours I wandered around the outskirts of town looking for trailheads as well as the museum.



After finding several interesting paths into the forest I headed back to town and just along the main road I came across a billboard for the Museum of Natural History.It shows a Yeren that significantly differs from what  is usually presented in the western media.Often a very shaggy looking beast with a large lion-like mane is depicted.Yet here the Yeren  is very hominin in nature and could easily be interpreted as form of Pieking Man(Homo erectus).To my understanding the tracks are very similar to a Sasquatch/Bigfoot but much smaller which would indicate a man-sized creature and  most reports ,albeit rare ,would corroborate this.

About 15 minutes after photographing the billboard I was approached by a policeman and told to leave the area immediately or face arrest.Luckily,just across the street a mini van was heading back to Shennongjia town and I hopped in without much hesitation.

 

I have no immediate plans on going back however,if do end up returning to China for professional reasons I will definitely conduct a more extensive investigation and expedition.

I have also posted additional photos on YouTube which you can view below.