Pheasant Exploration in Eastern and Central China
This is a pre-extension of our "Ultimate China Pheasant Tour" which covers some important pheasant habitats of eastern and central China where we can search for several range-restricted pheasants that we have little chance to see in the main tour.
We will firstly visit Fuzhou Forest Park which features a typical forest system in South China, we will look for the rare and endemic White-necklaced Partridge, then we will visit Emeifeng which belongs to Wuyi Mountain Range and are good to search for Cabot's Tragopan, Elliot's Pheasant, White-necklaced Partridge, Silver Pheasant, Koklass Pheasant, etc. Our last destination on this extension is Dongzhai National Nature Reserve where we will focus on Reeves's Pheasant.
Although we focus on pheasants, we will also be rewarded by some other specials in the eastern and central forests. We will try hard for the elusive Spotted Elachura in Fuzhou Forest Park, while Crested Ibis, Fairy Pitta, Black-capped Kingfisher, Crested Kingfisher in Dongzhai are also exciting to see.
Tour Info Sheet
| Highlight Birds | Reeves's Pheasant, Cabot's Tragopan, Elliot's Pheasant, White-necklaced Partridge, Silver Pheasant, Koklass Pheasant, Chinese Bamboo Partridge, Crested Ibis, Spotted Elachura, Black Eagle, Oriental Scops Owl, Mountain Hawk Eagle, Serpent Eagle, Greater Coucal, Red-headed Trogon, Rufous Woodpecker, Pale-headed Woodpecker, Scarlet Minivet, Large Woodshrike, Common Tailorbird, Red-whiskered Bulbul, Mountain Bulbul, Chestnut Bulbul, Grey-headed Parrotbill, Grey-sided Scimitar Babbler, Black-streaked Scimitar Babbler, Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush, Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush, Orange-bellied Leafbird, etc. |
|---|---|
| Numbers of Species to Expect | 100-130 |
| Ease of Birding | mostly easy birding with a few tricky species |
| Other Attractions | Hui style architecture, Fujian cuisine |
| Photography Opportunities | birding focused but with very good photography chances |
| Habitats Covered | subtropical forests, woodlands |
| Expected Climate | comfortable, cool in the morning, rain is possible |
| Physical Requirements | mostly easy, demanding but optional in certain parts |
| Accommodation | very comfortable |
| Transportation | 19-seat van |
What makes this trip irreplaceable?
1. This excursion focuses on pheasants of eastern and central China in which you have the best chances of seeing those endemic and special pheasants. We run the trip in the best season when our targeted pheasants are during the mating season.
2. Our experienced guides have guided birding tours in these areas for many decades, they know local birds and the latest bird info well. At the same time, they have rich experiences of guiding birders from different counties that ensure they understand your needs well.
3. Besides pheasants, this trip covers some popular and classic birding sites in eastern and central China.
4. Small groups with more flexibility. The group is limited to 8 so that we can maximize the chances of each participant.
5. We have been a reliable local partner for some western birding and wildlife companies for over a decade. The experience helps us understand our client’s needs and preferences well.
6. We have a strong logistic team to ensure our trip goes smoothly and to ensure you a comfortable and enjoyable journey.
Dates & Prices
| Dates | Booking Status | Price | Single Supplement | Group Size | Guide |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 1-8, 2024 | Space Available | 2,600USD/pax | 160USD/pax | 8 | Local Guide |
Slide the sheet to the left to see the full sheet if you are viewing it on your phone or tablet.
The cost includes the following:
1. Private transportation throughout the trip, including airport pick-up at Fuzhou Changle International Airport; Internal flight, and bullet train ticket as listed in the itinerary.
2. All meals from dinner on day 1 to breakfast on day 8.
3. All the entrance tickets for places listed in the itinerary including cable cars and shuttle buses.
4. Hotel stays from the first day to the last day, two clients occupy one twin-bed room on a sharing basis at nice 3 or 4-star hotels in big cities and local best guesthouses in remote areas.
5. Bottled water and snacks throughout the trip.
6. Simple western breakfast whenever possible.
7. Service charges of a professional and experienced local bird guide throughout the whole trip.
8. China domestic travel insurance.
9. Service of all logistic supports.
The cost does not include the following:
a. Drinks during meals.
b. Extra charges due to changes in the itinerary from the client's side or factors beyond the control of AlpineBirding such as natural disasters or government policy changes.
c. Discretionary tips to local guides and drivers.
d. All personal expenses such as laundry service.
e. ANY AIRFARE except those stated in the itinerary.
f. Any program not listed in the itinerary.
Itinerary
Tour Map
Day 1: Arrival in Fuzhou, China.
Upon arrival at Fuzhou Changle International Airport, you will be met by your AlpineBirding bird guide or driver, then get transferred to the hotel. For early arrivals, we can visit a local birding site to do a relaxing birding. We will meet the whole crew at dinner when we get a chance to discuss our stirring pheasant tour.
Day 2: Fuzhou National Forest Park & surrounds.
Built in 1960, Fuzhou National Forest Park covers 860 hectares and is rated as one of the top ten forest parks in China. This extensive natural area features more than 2,500 kinds of rare and precious trees from 36 countries that have been introduced and planted inside the park. Inside the park, there are many gardens for certain groups of precious trees species.
The nice eco-environment makes the park an ideal habitat for some endemic and special pheasant species including the endemic White-necklaced Partridge, also Chinese Bamboo Partridge and the elegant Silver Pheasant. Besides, we will spend the daytime looking for other sought-after species such as the elusive Spotted Elachura, and Mountain Hawk Eagle, Greater Coucal, Red-headed Trogon, Rufous Woodpecker, Pale-headed Woodpecker, Scarlet Minivet, Large Woodshrike, Common Tailorbird, Red-whiskered Bulbul, Mountain Bulbul, Chestnut Bulbul, Yellow-browed Warbler, Pallas's Warbler, Grey-headed Parrotbill, Black-streaked Scimitar Babbler, Orange-bellied Leafbird, Tristram's Bunting, etc.
Day 3: Fuzhou to Emeifeng.
We can spend some time in the forest park before transferring to Emeifeng. Upon arrival, we can spend some time searching for small forest species before sunset, then we will bring our focus back to pheasants.
Day 4-5: Emeifeng National Nature Reserve.
Belonging to Wuyi Mountain Range, Emeifeng features a notable vertical zonality of different flora species. The well-protected ecosystem provides an excellent habitat for a great variety of birds. It is renowned for being the best place to look for game birds, including some rare and endemic pheasants in Southeast China. To make the best use of our time, we will cover ground in our vehicle transport in the morning to look for Cabot's Tragopan, Elliot's Pheasant, White-necklaced Partridge, Silver Pheasant, Koklass Pheasant, Chinese Bamboo Partridge.
When not patrolling the area for game birds, we will focus on the search for some other forest species including Large Hawk Cuckoo, Black Eagle, Serpent Eagle, Collared Owlet, Great Barbet, Speckled Piculet, Bay Woodpecker, Grey-chinned Minivet, Blyth's Shrike Babbler, White-bellied Erpornis, Grey Treepie, Sultan Tit, Yellow-cheeked Tit, Brown Bush Warbler, Pygmy Cupwing, Chestnut Bulbul, Black Bulbul, Mountain Bulbul, Buff-throated Warbler, White-spectacled Warbler, Chestnut-crowned Warbler, Hartert's Leaf Warbler, Rufous-faced Warbler, Grey-headed Parrotbill, Indochinese Yuhina, Black-chinned Yuhina, Rufous-capped Babbler, Grey-sided Scimitar Babbler, Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush, Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush, Spotted Elachura, Spotted Forktail, Slaty-backed Forktail, and the Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush.
Day 6: Emeifeng to Dongzhai.
Today is relatively long considering the transportation but with good rewards as we will transfer to Dongzhai, another amazing birding site that proved to be the most reliable place to see the mind-blowing Reeves's Pheasant. After arrival at our well-suited guesthouse in Dongzhai, we will go birding around if time permits.
Day 7: Dongzhai National Nature Reserve.
Dongzhai is located on the north side of Dabie Mountain and is in the transition zone between the middle and low mountains to the east plain. The rich and various forest resources here are home to many endemic and unique species found in the central region of China. We will spend the full day here enjoying the gorgeous endemic Reeves's Pheasant and the endangered Crested Ibis.
During our exploration, we can also encounter other specials including Fairy Pitta, Black Baza, Chinese Sparrowhawk, Crested Goshawk, Oriental Scops Owl, Rufous Turtle Dove, Chestnut-winged Cuckoo, Asian Koel, Large Hawk Cuckoo, Indian Cuckoo, Grey Nightjar, Black-capped Kingfisher, Crested Kingfisher, Speckled Piculet, Grey-capped Woodpecker, Grey-headed Woodpecker, Brown-rumped Minivet, Black-winged Cuckooshrike, Black Drongo, Ashy Drongo, Eurasian Jay, Collared Crow, Brown-breasted Bulbul, Rufous-faced Warbler, Brownish-flanked Bush Warbler, Silver-throated Tit, Black-throated Tit, Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler, Masked Laughingthrush, Blue Whistling Thrush, White-crowned Forktail, Yellow-rumped Flycatcher, Russet Sparrow, Forest Wagtail, etc.
Day 8: Dongzhai to Xinyang, then fly to Chengdu.
We will spend one more morning here to ensure we encounter our targets. In the afternoon, we will drive to Xinyang to catch our internal flight to Chengdu for our main tour, the "Ultimate China Pheasant Tour".
Guide(s)
We will arrange one of our best local guides for this trip who has rich experiences of guiding tours in this region. The followings are some of our professional guides who have guided tours in this area for many years.
Philip He
As a half Kangba Tibetan, Philip is the main founder of AlpineBirding and is a native of Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. He has a deep love for his Kangba Tibetan heritage and the land where he was born and raised. Philip's career has gone from mining technician to a teacher, then a translator, and finally to a guide and tour operator. As a professional working in this field for more than 20 years, Philip believes travel is an art and a process of sharing and discovery. Each trip is a unique artistic work created with knowledge and expertise based on the resources available and the interests and tastes of travelers. To help more people to gain a lifetime birding and traveling experience, he established AlpineBirding with aims to bring his professional, fun-filled tours to more people who are eager to explore birds and other beautiful attractions in China.
Parus Yang
Born in Guizhou Province, Yang has shown great curiosity toward the surrounding natural world since his childhood. After his graduation from Sichuan Agriculture University with a master's degree in Ornithology, Parus joined AlpineBirding in 2013 and became a professional bird guide for AlpineBirding. As the first group of English-speaking birders educated locally in China, Parus can always share with birders more professional knowledge about birds than his counterparts with the help of his academic background. Besides working as a full-time bird guide, Parus also spend a fair amount of his spare time drawing birds and has become a pretty well-known bird illustrator. The years of birding experiences have turned him into a professional and expert bird guide, he mainly guides tours in southwestern China, particularly, Sichuan, Yunnan and Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
Reports
We don't have a report available for this tour at this stage, please feel free to email us, we are more than happy to answer any of your questions and share the latest bird information with you.
Testimonials
We don't have feedback on this trip yet. Please see other testimonials of AlpinBirding on the page linked at http://zygl.fytzw.com/index.php?m=content&c=index&a=lists&catid=13.
