China Birding Tours

Governed solely by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the state exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces (our bird watching tours concentrate in three of these: Yunnan, Sichuan, and Qinghai), five autonomous regions (e.g. including Inner Mongolia and Tibet), four direct-controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau. China considers Taiwan to be its 23^rd province, although Taiwan is governed by the Republic of China (ROC), which rejects the People’s Republic of China claim.

As would be expected for such a huge country, China’s landscape is vast and diverse, ranging from the Gobi Desert and Taklamakan Desert in the arid north to the subtropical forests in the wetter south. The Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges separate China from much of South and Central Asia (China shares the highest mountain in the world, Mount Everest at 29,029 feet / 8,848 meters with its neighbor Nepal). The Yangtze River and Yellow River, the third- and sixth-longest in the world, respectively, run from the Tibetan Plateau (home to the highly sought-after Black-necked Crane) to the densely populated eastern China seaboard. China connects through the Kazakhstan border to the Eurasian Steppe which has been an artery of communication between East and West since the Neolithic (through the Steppe route) – the ancestor of the terrestrial Silk Road.

China is the third most biodiverse country in the world and is considered one of 17 megadiverse countries identified by Conservation International. It sits in two of the world’s major biogeographic realms: the Palearctic and the Indo-Malayan. In terms of birds, China has a huge bird list, again not surprising given its large size and huge array of diverse habitats. According to International Ornithological Congress (IOC) taxonomy the national list is around 1,440 species of birds, this includes 57 full endemic and 17 breeding endemic birds, making a China birding tour (or two) a top priority for world birders, there are also several monotypic families present for family listers. BirdLife International recognizes 14 Endemic Bird Areas (EBAs) in China and over 100 species are considered globally threatened with some of the most severe (e.g. Critically Endangered) including Baer’s Pochard, Siberian Crane (as well as five other species of crane also being globally threatened), Spoon-billed Sandpiper, Chinese Crested Tern, Streaked Reed Warbler, Blue-crowned Laughingthrush, and Yellow-breasted Bunting.

China is incredibly important for mammals, with a staggering 500 plus species recorded. Giant Panda is probably the most famous of the mammalian species though there are so many other incredible species too, such as Leopard (Indian and Amur), Clouded Leopard, Tiger (Bengal, Indochinese, Siberian, and South China), Snow Leopard, Asiatic Black Bear, Sun Bear, Brown Bear (four subspecies), Tibetan Fox, Red Panda, Gaur, Yak, Takin, and Himalayan Tahr, to whet the appetite a little.

Following recent environmental law changes, China has an increasing number of national park projects and areas for wildlife and habitat protection (e.g. nearly 2,350 nature reserves) and BirdLife International recognizes 512 Important Bird Areas (IBAs); on our birding trips we visit a number of these sites. China has also increased the number of its Ramsar sites (wetlands of international importance) to 57, one such example is Poyang Lake (Poyang Hu), which is also a national nature reserve and an IBA. Since the early 1980s, Poyang Hu has become famous as the wintering ground of a number of globally threatened bird species; in particular 98 % of the world population, totaling only about 3,000 individuals, of the Siberian Crane winters at Poyang; other rare and endangered species occurring in significant numbers include the Oriental Stork, Swan Goose, and White-naped Crane.

Our China birding tours are timed to be in each of the selected provinces at the prime time for bird activity with our expert international tour leaders and knowledgeable local bird guides. We take small group Chinese birding tours including Yunnan, Sichuan, and Qinghai, and also offer customized or private tours for birdwatching, mammal watching, or photography in these and any other province you wish to travel to.

Here is a brief rundown of some of the spectacular locations we visit and stunning birds we regularly encounter on our China birdwatching tours (note also our Taiwan bird tour pages for specific Taiwanese birding tours). Note also that these Chinese birding tours run back-to-back allowing you to combine one or more tours together should you wish to do so:

Birding Tour China: Yunnan Spring Specials Birding Tour

China’s most diverse province containing over half of the country’s bird species (in only four percent of the land area) in stunning landscapes ranging from snow-capped mountains to tropical rainforests. Some of the top picks on this China birding tour include Mrs. Hume’s Pheasant, Black-bibbed Tit, Black-browed Bushtit, Rufous-tailed Babbler, Spectacled Fulvetta, Brown-winged Parrotbill, Eye-ringed Parrotbill, Himalayan Cutia, Red-tailed Laughingthrush, Scarlet-faced Liocichla, White-speckled Laughingthrush, Yunnan Nuthatch, Chinese Thrush, and Sharpe’s Rosefinch. We also make the special effort to see the extraordinary Black Snub-nosed Monkey, a very rare and endemic species during the tour. This is a great next step in Asian birding if you have enjoyed one of our Thailand birding tours.

Birding Tour China: Sichuan Birding Tour – The Best of Chinese Birding

Sichuan offers the best of birding in China, with many spectacular, rare and highly sought birds possible within the region, alongside iconic mammals such as Red Panda. The targets combined with the stunning wide-open steppe and mountainous landscapes, and exquisite ancient forests make for an unforgettable birding experience. Highlights include Sichuan Partridge, Chinese Monal, White Eared Pheasant, Blue Eared Pheasant, Golden Pheasant, Lady Amherst’s Pheasant, Chestnut-throated Monal-Partridge, Tibetan Snowcock, Temminck’s Tragopan, Snow Partridge, Chinese Grouse, Black-necked Crane, Sichuan Jay, White-browed Tit-warbler, Grey-hooded Parrotbill, Golden-fronted Fulvetta, Emei Shan Liocichla, Snowy-cheeked Laughingthrush, Giant Laughingthrush, Grandala, Sichuan Thrush, Firethroat, Golden Bush Robin, Chinese Rubythroat, Collared Grosbeak, Chinese Beautiful Rosefinch, Three-banded Rosefinch  and the monotypic family Przevalski’s Finch (previously called Pink-tailed Bunting and Przevalski’s Rosefinch when it was thought to be a member of either the bunting or rosefinch families). We also see numerous other gamebirds, parrotbills, laughingthrushes, warblers, thrushes, and rosefinches on this tour.

Birding Tour China: Qinghai and Tibetan Plateau Birding Tour

Known as the “Roof of the World”, we traverse the gorgeous Tibetan Plateau for a range of high-elevation species such as Tibetan Partridge, White Eared Pheasant, Tibetan Snowcock, Tibetan Sandgrouse, Pallas’s Sandgrouse, Snow Pigeon, Black-necked Crane, Ibisbill (a stunning monotypic family), Mongolian Ground Jay, Tibetan Lark, Crested Tit-warbler, Tarim Babbler, Tibetan Babax, Grandala, Qilian Bluetail,  Tibetan Snowfinch, Przevalski’s Finch, Pale Rosefinch, Tibetan Rosefinch, Tibetan Serin, Tibetan Bunting, and mammals such as Tibetan Fox. A thoroughly breathtaking journey across Asia.