Hongdou Gorge in the Taihang Mountains of Shanxi

Hongdou Gorge Natural Scenic Area, a beautiful and magical tourist destination, is located within the territory of Huguan County, Shanxi, China. It is a premium scenic area of the Taihang Mountain Grand Canyon and is also recognized by experts as a world-class natural scenic area. It is named for the naturally growing rare tree species of the southern category, the Chinese yew, within its bounds. In the deep folds of the canyon slopes, due to unique geographical and climatic conditions, there are more than 20,000 natural southern Chinese yew trees growing in clusters, which is quite rare in the northern regions of China; the Chinese yew, a shallow-rooted plant with no prominent main root but well-developed lateral roots, is recognized worldwide as a naturally rare and endangered anti-cancer plant, a relic from the Quaternary glaciation, with a history of 2.5 million years on Earth. Due to the slow growth rate of the Chinese yew under natural conditions and its poor regenerative ability, there has not been a large-scale yew timber base formed anywhere in the world for a long time. China has classified it as a first-class rare and endangered protected plant, and the United Nations has also explicitly banned its felling.