Mount Wuyi is the most out­stand­ing area for bio­di­ver­si­ty con­ser­va­tion in south-east Chi­na and a refuge for a large num­ber of ancient, relict species, many of them endem­ic to Chi­na. The serene beau­ty of the dra­mat­ic gorges of the Nine Bend Riv­er, with its numer­ous tem­ples and monas­ter­ies, many now in ruins, pro­vid­ed the set­ting for the devel­op­ment and spread of neo-Con­­fu­­cian­ism, which has been influ­en­tial in the cul­tures of East Asia since the 11th cen­tu­ry. In the 1st cen­tu­ry B.C. a large admin­is­tra­tive cap­i­tal was built at near­by Cheng­cun by the Han dynasty rulers. Its mas­sive walls enclose an archae­o­log­i­cal site of great sig­nif­i­cance.