Giants From the Dreamtime the Yowie In Myth And Reality

Shennongjia 1943

Chi-Chi's

The Chi-Chi's are known to construct crude shelters out of bamboo. Crude stone tools left by these hominids where they have sheltered, sometimes alongside campfires, have been reported found in caves and rock overhangs. They resemble Homo erectus tools similar to those associated with recently-abandoned campsites uncovered in Australia, as reported in earlier chapters.

Examinations of the droppings left by Chi-Chi's show they subsist upon an omnivorous diet of berries and other vegetable 'bush tucker' and meat. In the Qinling Mountains peasants know that the Chi-Chi's are particularly on the move during autumn and winter, when wild chestnuts are found on the groung.

They believe these hominids never willingly attack people unless someone chances to wander into 'their' territory, or that their young are secreted away nearby. The peasants warn travellers that, if they should come face-to-face with one of these "Wild People", they should give the Chi-Chi food to show them that they mean no harm.

Shot "wild man" Chi-Chi

In the spring of 1943, one Zhang Yujin was with a party of soldiers, who shot a 'Wild Man' in the Shennongjia district. A second, possibly a female escaped. When the soldiers examined the dead Chi-Chi, they found it to be as tall as a human being, the whole body being covered in dark red hair. The palms of its hands and soles of its feet were covered with thick white calluses, while the fingers and toes had pointed nails, Zhang Yujin said later.