Tibetan people trace certain characteristics of modern humans to Avalokitesvara and the mountain ogress. Adherents to the monkey origin myth rely on ancient documents discovered in a Lhasa temple by Atisha, an Indian scholar. Modern anthropologists generally consider Tibetans to be descendants of the Mongoloid people, although specific historical details remain disputed. During the Paleolithic, another group of people with slightly different biological characteristics apart from the Mongoloids lived in current South China. While some scientists classify these people as part of a different phenotype altogether, others maintain that these people were in fact Southern Mongoloids.
Anthropologists regard modern Chinese people as secondary descendants of Mongoloids.
During the Neolithic era, a mainstream Chinese culture evolved. The Yellow River valley became the epicenter of China's cultural explosion. Between 5000-3000 B.C., the Yellow River valley flourished. The Chinese witnessed a Renaissance unrivaled by past cultural developments. Minority groups across China eventually assimilated into the culture of the Yellow River valley.