China July - August 2010, Longsheng Rice Terraces

The Longsheng rice terraces are also known as the "Dragon's Backbone" and another stunningly beautiful spot in the Guanxi province. After our visit to Yangshuo we paid this attraction a visit. It was much less touristic than expected and bit harder to get to. We took a bus from Guilin and got dropped off at a parking lot where some cars where waiting. After a 1,5 hour drive we got to the area that is called the Dragon's Backbone. From here we hiked up the rice terraces and stayed at a home-stay in a tiny village on top of the terraces. The views from there were amazing. We stayed two days in the area and spent our times mostly by strolling through the rice fields. This produced several interesting species next to one stunning view after another. Species observed here included Crested Goshawk, Red-billed Leiothrix, Plumbeous Water Redstart, Brown Bush-warbler, Grey Bush-chat, Russet-capped Fulvetta, Vinous-throated Parrotbill, Light-vented and Brown-breasted Bulbul, Collared Finchbill and Brown Dipper.

Male Grey Bush-chat (Saxicola ferreus)

Female Plumbeous Water Redstart (Phoenicurus fuliginosa)

A skulky Red-billed Leiothrix (Leiothrix lutea)

Vinous-throated Parrotbill (Paradoxornis webbianus)

We enjoyed our time a lot here, mostly because the views and the home-stay were amazing. However even though I observed some cool birds, I think this place has not so much to offer to birders as there is barely any forest left within the area. Most birds mentioned above where clinging to the tiny patches of degraded forest that were still left. This post and other posts concerning my 2010 China trip can be downloaded as PDF here.

China July - August 2010, Yangshuo

The town of Yangshuo is located in between thousands of limestone pinnacles forming one of the most famous touristic attractions of Southern China. The limestone karst is truly a sight to behold and so we enjoyed ourselves for a couple of days here. We had based ourselves just outside Yangshuo and visited several touristic attractions within the area simply by bicycle, which can be rented at several places. Yangshuo itself is easily accessible from Guilin and finding accommodation in Yangshuo should pose no problem at all.

While visiting the touristic attractions like the Moon Hill and the Dragon Bridge I kept looking at some birds. Birds observed in the Yangshuo area included Oriental Hobby, Black-winged Kite, Blue Rock Thrush, Plain Prinia, Golden-headed Cisticola, Mountain Bulbul, Light-vented Bulbul, Japanese White-eye and Russet Sparrow.

Juvenile Black-winged Kite (Elanus caeruleus)

Blue Rock Thrush (Monticola solitarius)

Mountain Bulbul (Ixos mcclellandii)

Male Russet Sparrow (Passer rutilans)

One day was spent hiking through the karst formations from Yangdi to Xingping. Both of these villages are located at the Li river and are easily accessible by bus from Yangshuo. The entire hike is rouhgly 24 km, but we lost our way and after 12 km we took a boat back to Xingping. Up to the point where we got lost, the way was actually pretty straight forward, so I guess we got mixed up somewhere and took a wrong turn. We enjoyed this hike a lot and the boat ride was equally entertaining and scenic. Birds observed in this area included Chinese Goshawk, Collared Crow, Long-tailed Shrike, Japanese White-eye, Amur Wagtail and White-rumped Munia.

Male Amur Wagtail (Motacilla (alba) leucopsis)

The karst formation around Yangshuo are amazing and will be enjoyed by anyone, birder and non-birder. I guess with better preparations and more time spent looking, more and better species would have been found, but in the end it was more of a cultural trip and not a birding trip. This post and other posts concerning my 2010 China trip can be downloaded as PDF here.