Chapter 2 A Land of Healthcare

Since the human body is a creation of nature,“to maintain health in a natural manner”is the greatest wisdom of health maintenance.Hu Zhen,dean of the Schoolof Arts and Humanities at the Hubei University of Chinese Medicine,claims that the most prominent feature of Shennongjia’s TCM culture lies in its philosophy:keeping healthy in a naturalway.

The key point in health preservation is to regulate one’s heartbeat,relieve one’s mentality,and smooth one’s qixue (qi and blood).Therefore,a naturalenvironmentis the chieffactor in determining health quality.Here it can help people to exhale the old and inhale the new by absorbing the essence of nature.Shennongjia,a paradise of the earth and a gift of God,is endowed to be the most ideall and for health maintenance on the globalscale.

Earth’s 31° north latitude line mostly goes through deserts and oceans,except Shennongjia,which stands alone in this magical latitude.Due to the fact that Shennongjia is at the edge of the transitional zone from the“First Ladder”to the“Second Ladder”of the Chinese terrain,the abundant sunshine and the heavy precipitation caused by warm and humid air currents from the Pacific Ocean cause more than 90%of Shennongjia to be covered by plants.The altitude and complex geological structure have also granted Shennongjia genuinely enchanting scenery and mystery.

蒼山飛馳(龍海濤攝)Moving mountains(Photo by Long Haitao)

天燕霧景Foggy Tianyan Scenic Spot

第二章養生之地

人是自然界的產物，“以自然之道，養自然之生”，是養生的最高智慧。湖北中醫藥大學人文學院院長胡真說，神農架中醫藥文化最突出的特點在于它的中醫藥理念：自然養生。

健康養生貴在調心、濟神、順氣血。汲取自然之精氣，吐故納新，自然條件是決定養生質量的關鍵。神農架是地球的傳奇，上蒼的特賜，神斧天工，無疑是世界上最適宜養生的地方之一。

地球北緯31度線大部分穿越沙漠和海洋，神農架一枝獨秀，矗立在這條神奇的緯度帶上。由于她同時處于中國地形從第一階梯向第二階梯過渡的邊緣，充足的日照和太平洋暖濕氣流帶來的大量降水，使神農架90%以上被植物覆蓋，再加上自身合適的高度和復雜的構造，使得神農架風光無限，謎幻叢生。