Huanglianshan a retreat for monkeys

Established in April, 1983, the Huanglianshan reserve was upgraded into a national nature reserve in June, 2003. Covering an area of 65,000 hectares, it protects a unique tropical valley forest ecosystem with valley rainforests, mountain rainforests and monsoon evergreen broad-leaved forests, scattered from 320 m to 2,637 m above sea level on the Huanglianshan Mountains.

The forests harbor more than 5,000 species of plants, of which 152 species are under the State's protection. They are the habitats of 100 species of animals including eight of the country's 22 species of primates, and 200 bird species.

"Huanglianshan has more primate species than any other reserve in the country," says Zhang Kaiping, head of the reserve management office of Honghe Forestry Bureau.