China: Crested Ibis, Terracotta Warriors and much more Saturday 23 May to Sunday 7 June 2009 Cost: £3190 plus about £800 for flights Click here for explanation of price breakdown Maximum group size: 10 with 2 leaders. |
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In recent years, two remarkable discoveries were made in China. In Yangxian in south-westernmost Shaanxi a tiny population of the extremely rare Crested Ibis was found to be thriving. Thought at the time to be on the verge of extinction, this accessible site now almost guarantees birdwatchers will see a species, which still has a world population of under 800 individuals. The other was the unearthing of the fabulous Army of the Terracotta Warriors in Xi’an and we’ll also take time to visit this magnificent collection of statues, along with some of the Middle Kingdom’s other amazing cultural heritage, such as the Great Wall, the Summer Palace, Tiananmen Square, and the Forbidden City. In addition we’ll be visiting Xianghai, a huge reserve in Jilin Province near the border with Inner Mongolia. Here we’ll search in particular for the enigmatic Jankowski’s Bunting while other attractions include Daurian Partridge, Swan Goose, Falcated Duck, Oriental Stork, perhaps as many as three species of crane, Asian Dowitcher and Mongolian Lark. Heading south to Central China’s Shaanxi Province we’ll spend time exploring several areas around the mighty Qinling mountain range before ending the tour at the impressive Taibai mountain which, at 3767 metres, is not only the highest point in the Qinling Shan but also in the whole of eastern China. Here we'll search for the likes of Temminck's Tragopan and the recently discovered Sichuan Treecreeper. Day 1: The tour begins in London with an overnight flight to Beijing. Day 2: Arriving early in Beijing, we’ll transfer to our very comfortable hotel before taking a tour of the city. We’ll visit Tiananmen Square, one of Beijing’s most famous landmarks, before entering the Forbidden City. Home to the emperors of both the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Forbidden City now harbours the largest and best preserved cluster of ancient buildings in the nation. Night in Beijing. Day 3: We'll have an early start today to visit the royal gardens of the Summer Palace. Here we’ll search for Yellow Bittern, Ruddy-breasted Crake, Black-browed, Oriental Reed, Manchurian Reed and possibly Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler. With luck we might also encounter migrants still heading north to their Siberian breeding grounds. We'll have time to freshen up back at the hotel before catching a comfortable overnight sleeper train north into what used to be called Manchuria. Night on the train. Day 4: Arriving at Baicheng in the early morning, we’ll set out straight away to search for birds, with the region’s speciality, Jankowski’s Bunting, high on our list. This almost mythical species was discovered here recently, sharing the extensive grasslands with a few Great Bustards, attractive Mongolian Larks, Richard's Pipits and the scarce Pallas's Bunting. Later we’ll drive to the Xianghai National Nature Reserve, which, at about two hours away, will be our base for the following two nights. Days 5-6: We’ll spend two days at Xianghai Nature Reserve, a huge reserve dominated by extensive reed beds, large expanses of open water and grasslands typical of the Mongolian steppe, but also containing tracts of woodland, scrub and agriculture. We’ll search for Swan Geese, Baer’s Pochard, Falcated Duck, Japanese, White-naped and Demoiselle Cranes, Asian Dowitcher, and a variety of other water and grassland birds, such as Daurian Partridge, Amur Falcon, the gorgeous White-winged Black Tern, Oriental Pratincole, and Chinese Grey Shrike. Towards the end of our second day we’ll leave and drive towards Changchun, the provincial capital of Jilin. Nights in Changchun. Day 7: Today we'll fly from Changchun through Beijing to Xi'an, capital of historic Shaanxi Province. We might arrive in time to have a quick look around Wild Goose Park close to our comfortable hotel. Night in Xi'an. Day 8: Xi’an, literally meaning ‘western safety’, was previously the centre of the Chinese world and vied with Rome and later Constantinople for the title of the greatest city in the world. It’s still an impressive destination with a wealth of things to see. In the morning we’ll visit the Terracotta Warriors, one of the nation’s greatest historical sites. Here a recently unearthed and ever-vigilant force of thousands of life-size terracotta warriors and their horses stand guard over the ancient capital and the emperor’s burial site. After a morning here we'll have lunch and visit the burial mound of Qin Shihuang, the Emperor who first unified China and ordered the creation of the Warriors to protect him in the afterlife. In the afternoon we'll drive south, up and over the mighty Qinling mountain range to Hanzhong where we'll spend the night. Day 9: It'll take us less than one hour to drive to Yangxian, home of the enchanting Crested Ibis. Previously common and widespread in China, the Ibis is now one of the world’s rarest species and confined exclusively to this part of China. However with local research workers, who know the tiny population well, acting as our guides we are sure to get some superb views of this bird. Other species in this area include the elusive Chinese Bamboo Partridge, Chinese Sparrowhawk, Cinnamon Bittern, Brown-breasted Bulbul, Collared Finchbill, Swinhoe’s Minivet and Red-billed Starling. Night back in Hanzhong. Day 10: Leaving early, we’ll head north back through the Qinling mountain range. We’ll make several stops on our way to the spectacular Taibai Shan National Forest Reserve to look for birds such as Asian House Martin, Brown and Manchurian Bush Warblers and possibly Spot-breasted Parrotbill, and of ourse we’ll also be stopping simply to admire the stunning scenery. On entering the reserve we’ll head for Hong He Gu where we’ll spend the next two nights. Day 11: Taibai Shan is a spectacular mountain. Situated in the centre of Meixian County, the mountain marks what the Chinese accept as the boundary between northern and southern China and is forested from the foot at 645 metres almost right to the summit. Two roads lead from the base up to Xiabansi, which at 2730 metres, is almost three quarters of the way up the mountain, and we’ll use both of these in our quest to uncover many of the mountain’s avian jewels. We’ll spend two nights at Hong He Guwhere we’ll be well placed to explore some of the park’s lower slopes as we search for species such as regal Golden Pheasants, secretive Chinese Sparrowhawks, the gorgeous Fujian Niltava and the junco-like Slaty Bunting. We’ll also make concerted efforts to see many of the park’s 12 species of Phylloscopus and eight species of bush warbler with White-tailed Leaf Warbler and Yellowish-bellied Bush Warblers all being high priorities. Night in Hong He Gu. Day 12: We'll spend most of the day again around Hong He Gu searching for more of the mountain's mid-altitude species. In the late afternoon we'll transfer to another hotel close to the park's main entrance at Tangyu. Nightat Tangyu. Day 13: We’ll venture higher today, heading up to Xiabansi, or possibly even higher. Specialities in this area include the magnificent Blood Pheasant and exquisite Temminck’s Tragopan. We’ll also expect to see Spotted Nutcracker, Chestnut Thrush, Orange-flanked and Golden Bush Robins, Rufous-vented and Sooty Tits, Grey-headed Bullfinch and White-winged Grosbeak. With luck we might also encounter Rusty-breasted Tit, Spectacled Fulvetta, Spectacled Parrotbill, Maroon-backed Accentor and Blanford’s Rosefinch. We'll spend some time searching for the recently described, and poorly known, Sichuan Treecreeper, a species we'veseen on all three of our previous visits here. Night at Hong Hua Ling. Day 14: We’ll spend the morning on Taibai Shan looking for species we might have missed earlier. In the early afternoon we’ll leave and head back to Xi’an to catch a flight to Beijing, where we'll spend the following two nights. Day 15: In the morning we’ll visit the Great Wall at Badaling for a combination of sightseeing and birding. Stretching for nearly 5000 kilometres, the Wall has some sections that are over 2000 years old and although most of what we’ll see has been recently restored, it’s still an amazing structure. Ornithological treats could include White-browedChinese Warbler, Vinous-throated Parrotbill, Plain Laughingthrush, Yellow-bellied Tit, Yellow-rumped and Asian Paradise-flycatchers, Chinese Leaf and Eastern Crowned Warblers, and Godlewski’s Bunting. We'll return to Beijing in the afternoon. Night in Beijing. Day 16: We’ll catch a flight back to London where the tour concludes. Please note that while much of the accommodation on this tour is of a very good standard, the guesthouse at Hong Hua Ling on Taibia Shan is of a slightly lower standard than we would normally expect.
E-mail or phone +44 (0)1767 262522 for availability.
Last updated May 2008. |
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