East China

6th - 24th May 2025

Leaders: Wilbur Goh and Elan James

East China - a tour that until recently proved time-consuming and difficult to get around. Now, with China's huge bullet-train network, easily accessible birding sites, and surprisingly easy, but enjoyable birding means that we are able to cover a vast distance, without taking that many internal flights - some 3,000km south to north.

Taking in all of the Eastern China endemics, and those seen rarely elsewhere include some mouth-watering birds: Silver Oriole, Reed Parrotbill, Cabot's Tragopan, White-necklaced Partridge, Elliot's Pheasant, Blue-crowned Laughingthrush, Reeves's Pheasant, Brown-chested Jungle Flycatcher, Fairy Pitta, Brown Eared Pheasant, Jankowski's Bunting, Swan Goose, Band-bellied Crake, Von Schrenck's Bittern, Green-backed and Zappey's Flycatcher and Chinese Beautiful Rosefinch. Not is it just this list, but a whole raft of migrants and supporting species, means you can expect to see over 30 new birds, even for those with extensive experience of birding in China.

Day 1:
Arrivals into Guangzhou International Airport (CAN). Night near Guangzhou Airport.

Day 2:
Morning at forest park outside of Guangzhou in search of Silver Oriole (2-hour / 100km drive), with a supporting cast including Grey-sided Scimitar Babbler, and even an outside chance of Fairy Pitta and Chinese Barbet among a variety of common southeast Chinese species such as Fork-tailed Sunbird. We return to Guangzhou International Airport in the late afternoon for an internal flight to Shanghai International Airport (PVG) in the early evening. Night at Shanghai Airport Hotel.

Day 3:
We have much of the day along the Shanghai coastline. Where we spend the day will depend on recent conditions and birding, as there’s a variety of habitats we can visit. Wherever we visit, we will be concentrating first-and-foremost on two species - Reed Parrotbill and Japanese Swamp Warbler / Marsh Grassbird. Any mudflats we visit could hold Saunders’s Gull, which breeds nearby, or even a late Black-faced Spoonbill or Chinese Egret. In addition, any coastal scrub and plantations provide shelter for passage migrants, with a whole host of buntings, starlings, warblers and flycatchers of various species possible. In the evening, we take a short flight south, to Fuzhou Changle International Airport (FOC), in Fujian province.

Day 4:
After an early morning stroll around Fuzhou Forest Park, where White-necklaced Partridge is possible, along with Black-throated Laughingthrush, Hwamei and Grey-sided Scimitar Babbler, we head inland to Mingxi county in the cultivated lowlands (350km / 5 hours). Here, a series of hides overlook a few specialities, most notably Blyth’s Kingfisher, the main reason for our time here, while Chinese Barbet is an outside possibility, and again, White-necklaced Partridge is also possible. Night in Mingxi county.

Day 5:
We have a morning here, if required, for Blyth’s Kingfisher, while White-necklaced Partridge and Elliot’s Pheasant are also possible, either in the surrounding forest or potentially from one of the hides, along with Grey-sided Scimitar Babbler and Huet’s Fulvetta. After here, we venture up in the highlands, to Emeifang (4 hours / 170km). A narrow-paved road winds its way up to our accommodation near the peak of Emeifang. Along the road here, Cabot’s Tragopan, Elliot’s Pheasant and White-necklaced Partridge are all possible. Night at Emeifang.

Days 6-7:
We spend two days inside Emeifang NNR to locate the main prizes of this beautiful, isolated mountain range. The jewel in the crown is the Cabot’s Tragopan which occasionally feeds by the roadside in the early mornings and by patiently driving slowly along the road that winds its way up we hope to get close views of this spectacular forest galliform.For the remainder of our time, we bird at a variety of altitudes along the single forest road in search of the other species endemic to south-east China’s mountain ranges - Elliot’s Pheasant and White-necklaced Partridge. Many other scarce but widespread species are also possible; Buffy Laughingthrush, Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler, Sulphur-breasted, Kloss’s Leaf Warbler, White-spectacled, Alstrom’s and Buff-throated Warblers, Grey-headed Parrotbill, Green and Blyth’s Shrike Babblers, Brown Bush Warbler, Elachura and Chestnut Bulbul, while we also have slim chances of Hartert’s Leaf Warbler and Moustached Laughingthrush. Nights at Emeifang.

Day 8:
Depending on our previous days successes we drive north to Wuyuan, in Jiangxi province (7 hours / 430km). If we arrive in time, we can search for any of the following Pied Falconet, Courtois’s and Masked Laughingthrushes, Swinhoe’s Minivet or Mandarin Duck (430km / 7 hours). Night at Wuyuan.

Day 9:
Today we will visit one of the small colonies of Courtois’s Laughingthrush in the beautiful Wuyuan countryside. This Critically Endangered species is known from only 5-6 colonies, all within the Wuyuan county borders with the current known population numbering no more than 250 individuals. Driving around the local villages, seemingly trapped in a time warp while the rest of the country develops at neck-breaking speed, we will search for several scarce species including Short-tailed Parrotbill, Pied Falconet, Masked Laughingthrush, Chinese Bamboo Partridge, Swinhoe’s Minivet, Rufous-faced Warbler, Red-billed Starling and even the spectacular Mandarin Duck which has a healthy population along the riversides. Night at Wuyuan.

Day 10:
After some early morning birding, we take a high-speed train north, to Xinyang in Henan province, 1324/1755, changing in Wuhan. After arriving in Xinyang East Station, drive across towards Dongzhai (40km / 50 mins). Night at Dongzhai.

Day 11:
A full day in search of one of China’s most recognisable endemics – the splendid Reeves’s Pheasant. Dongzhai has the largest population of this increasingly rare species but it is still difficult to find. Other species possible here include Brown-chested Jungle Flycatcher, Chinese Hwamei, Oriental Scops Owl and even Fairy Pitta is possible, while a Crested Ibis reintroduction project has proved to be successful here, so we will see these feeding in the open fields, where Collared Crow is also possible. At night, Japanese Scops Owl and Northern Boobook are possible. Night at Dongzhai.

Day 12:
We have a couple hours birding before we head to the train station, and take the high-speed train direct Shanxi province.

Day 13:
This morning, we go to see Brown Eared Pheasant, that are fed daily at Huoshan, deep in the forests above Linfen. In May fewer arrive than in winter, but we can expect to see a number coming down from the hills to feast on an easy meal. There’s not too many other species here, Claudia’s Leaf Warbler, Chinese Nuthatch, Yellow-bellied Tit and Yellow-throated Bunting are some of the possibilities. In the afternoon, we take the high-speed train eastto Beijing West Station. Night at Linggshan.

Day 14:
A day birding in the richly biodiverse mountains that flank the west side of Beijing. The forest-covered slopes here are home to four main targets, Green-backed Flycatcher, Zappey’s Flycatcher, Grey-sided Thrush and Chinese Beautiful Rosefinch. In addition, a range of other species breed here including Chinese Leaf Warbler, Asian Stubtail, Godlewski’s Bunting, Daurian Redstart, Siberian Blue Robin, Beijing Babbler, Silver-throated Bushtit, Manchurian Bush Warbler, Himalayan Cuckoo and a host of warblers and an outside possibility of Qilian Bluetail and Chinese Long-tailed Rosefinch. Night at Linggshan.

Day 15:
Morning at Linggshan once again before heading to Beijing International Airport (2.5 hours / 140km) for an evening flight to Ulanhot Airport (HLH) in Heilongjiang.

Day 16:
A day in the remnant grasslands (2 hours / 160km) for one of China’s rarest specialities, Jankowski’s Bunting, which really is just clinging onto what habitat remains. Other species in the area include Amur Falcon, Chinese Grey Shrike, lydiae Pallas’s and Meadow Buntings, Amur Stonechat, Asian Short-toed Lark and Japanese Quail. Afternoon we head north to spend late afternoon at wetlands.

Day 17:
A day visiting various wetlands, birding the extensive marshes that persist here, though water-levels vary year-on-year, we plan on visiting some of the more stable waterbodies, where marshy fringes persist. Red-crowned and White-naped Cranes, Von Schrenck’s Bittern, Swan Goose, Oriental Stork, Amur Falcon, Japanese Reed Bunting, Chinese Penduline-tit and various warblers are possible – Oriental Reed and Black-browed Reed Warblers dominate, though Manchurian Reed Warbler and Marsh Grassbird are possible.

Day 18:
Final morning birding the marshes, though a different site. Here, the wetlands are quite extensive, with Great Bittern noticeably common. Both Red-crowned and White-naped Cranes are possible, as are many of the previously mentioned species, with the addition of Band-bellied Crake also being possible. In the afternoon we fly back to Beijing. Night next to Beijing International Airport, hotel TBC.
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Day 19:
Departures from Beijing International Airport (PEK or PKX).