Unfeathered friends flock together

China is a great place for bird watching. The country's enormous geographical diversity provides ideal habitats for large numbers of birds. And now an increasing number of birders are visiting the country as members of tour groups.

The range of habitats is vast: Tropical rainforests in the southwestern province of Yunnan; the alpine-like valleys of the eastern Himalaya; endless grasslands, deserts; and the valleys of some of the world's longest rivers.

Although birding as a recreational activity developed in the West in the 20th century, it wasn't introduced to the Chinese mainland until the late 1990s.

In 2002, China's first birding competition was held at Dongting Lake in Hunan province.

In 2004, Shenzhen Bird Watching Society became the first birding organization to register on the Chinese mainland. Since then the number of organizations has risen to around 40 nationwide.

Zhao Xinru, an ornithologist at Beijing Normal University, said bird watching is developing rapidly in China, but as the country has only 10,000 serious birders, the number of participants is small, compared with overseas. Zhao and several birders in Beijing have delivered weekly lectures on birding and environmental protection at the university every Wednesday since 1996.