How a Red-Banded Snake Marked the Beginning of a Young Foreigner's Journey
Updated：2026-02-28 Source：Shennongjia National Park
In the summer of 2006, 24-year-old Kevin arrived in China for the very first time.
He flew in from North Carolina, carrying a notebook, a camera, a touch of youthful boldness, and a growing fascination with China—especially Shennongjia.
What he didn't know then was that the next twenty years of his life—his work, home, and personal purpose—would all become inseparably tied to this land.
From Beijing to Shennongjia:First Impressions That Landed Harder Than Expected
At the airport in Beijing, Kevin finally met Professor Zhang Fang. He drove Kevin to Chinese Academy of Sciences. Where Mr. Li Yiming was waiting for him. That afternoon Mr. Li invited Kevin to taste Beijing Roast Duck. They had a cheerful gather-together. The next day Mr. Li accompanied Kevin to Shennongjia National Nature Reserve. At the time of that year Chinese railway were ready for speeding up, but the train Kevin took was still slow. It costed over ten hours to get to Yichang. They didn't have a short rest and headed toward Muyu Town by taxi.
Kevin had imagined stepping off the plane and immediately being surrounded by lush green mountains. Instead, the road north revealed highways, construction zones, and streams of traffic.
It struck him that the "China" shown in travel brochures and the "China" one actually moves through are two very different experiences.
Halfway up the mountain, their driver suddenly shouted in alarm. Kevin didn't understand the words, but the driver's expression was enough.
Everyone got out to look—and saw that a whole section of the road had been washed away by heavy rain.
They stood there, unsure of what to do.
After observing the water, Professor Li turned to Kevin and simply said, "Let's wade across."
And so Kevin rolled up his pants and followed a group of suit-clad businessmen into the rushing water.
It wasn't what he expected from his first day in China, but it didn't scare him. If anything, he felt he was finally stepping into the real China.
The unpredictability of it all energized him, pushing him quickly into fieldwork mode.
When they reached Muyu, another surprise awaited him: the cost of living.
For about 45 RMB a night—roughly 7 US dollars—he had a room with electricity and food, though not always a private bathroom. It was still far cheaper than the nearly 60 dollars he had spent per day during fieldwork in the US sandhills.
And just like that, Kevin's first chapter in Shennongjia began.
The First Frog Call—and His First True Night in the Mountains
After a night's rest in Muyu, the team drove to Jiuchong the next day, arriving after dark.
The lodging was modest, with the sound of the river just outside the window. The air carried the smell of wet grass and soil—his first night in the Chinese mountains.
As soon as night fell, Kevin grabbed his headlamp and rushed into the darkness, starting his very first night survey in China.
That night, he discovered a small frog along the riverbank. He slid over wet rocks as he followed its call, the roar of the water nearly drowning out everything else.
With no internet in Jiuchong and no familiarity with Chinese frog species, he photographed it from every angle, hoping to identify it later.
Back in the village, he bought a bottle of tea from a small shop and sat on the steps outside, quietly savoring the fact that he was here, in China, doing real herpetology work. A smile crept onto his face again and again.
Then the shop owner frowned at his leg and said something Kevin didn't understand—except for the word "snake."
Startled, Kevin looked down and saw blood on his socks but no bite marks. He hadn't fallen either. He was baffled.
Only later did villagers explain that he had been bitten by leeches.
Not venomous, of course—but finally solving the mystery made Kevin oddly pleased.
The First Snake:His First Real "Discovery"
Early the next morning, the team reached the end of a mountain road and began walking.
Not long into the trail, Kevin instinctively began flipping rocks.
To his teammates, it looked strange—but for Kevin, it was second nature, a habit built from years of scientific training.
Suddenly he whispered "shhh," then held up a small red snake.
His teammates jumped back in alarm.
Kevin quickly used the Chinese phrase he had practiced: "No venom."
He rested the little snake on his palm, and everyone gathered around to look.
Without internet and with limited Chinese, he had to wait until returning to Muyu to compare photos with reference papers on his laptop.
That was when he confirmed it: a red-banded snake (Lycodon rufozonatus)—harmless, beautifully patterned, red and black.
In that moment, he felt it clearly for the first time:his ecological journey in China had truly begun.
From that first red-banded snake onward, Kevin would go on to write hundreds of thousands of words of field notes across Hubei and Shennongjia.
Lunch, Local Liquor, and His First Sense of Belonging
At noon, local forest rangers invited the team to their home for lunch.
Cured meat, wild vegetables,—Kevin was thrilled at the sight of the table.
He took in the details of the home: paintings on the wall, a gentle little dog lying by the doorway—small things that momentarily reminded him of his home in the US.
During the meal, the group talked about the snakes and frogs found in the region.
Kevin didn't understand most of it but picked up a few familiar keywords.
Homemade corn liquor mixed with honey soon appeared—a local specialty. Sweet at first, but deceptively strong.
Kevin learned its strength quickly, but the warmth of the hosts kept everyone drinking a few more cups.
After lunch, teammates dozed off on the sofa, but Kevin—lightly tipsy and still curious—wandered around the house for a short walk.
A teammate soon spotted the flash of Kevin's red bandana in the distance and called him back, reminding him rain was coming and they needed to return to Jiuchong. They thanked the villagers and headed out.
That lunch left Kevin with a new feeling—not that of a visitor,but of someone working with the people here.
The sense of belonging came quietly, naturally, without ceremony.
On the Bridge, He Made a Promise to Himself
Back at the field station, Kevin walked onto the suspension bridge, watching the mountains fade into dusk.
The river below was clear and thunderous.
He thought about the stones he had overturned, the first snake he had found, and how much more Shennongjia held waiting to be documented.
He stood there for a long time, thinking only one thing:In the days ahead, he would record everything he could.
Ending
That little red-banded snake didn't bring him a groundbreaking discovery, but it gave him his first moment of certainty in an unfamiliar land.
It wasn't rare, but it affirmed one thing for Kevin:
"I can do real research here."
And from that day on, his story in Shennongjia truly began—not a legend, not an accident, but the first step a young foreigner took twenty years ago: a small snake, a quiet discovery, and the beginning of a two-decade journey of scientific exploration in China.（Written & Photoed by Li Yecheng）
Copyright Shennongjia National Park
Address：36 Chulin Road, Muyu Town, Shennongjia Forestry District, Hubei Province 鄂ICP备18005077号-3
Address：36 Chulin Road, Muyu Town, Shennongjia Forestry District, Hubei Province 鄂ICP备18005077号-3
Email：2673990569@qq.com
Phone：0719-3453368
Phone：0719-3453368
TOP