Photograph of Giant Panda

A rare photograph of a wild Giant Panda, taken in the Foping Reserve by Coke & Som Smith.

CENTRAL CHINA

Best Wildlife in Central China

Mammals
Giant Panda (most likely Feb-Jun and Aug-Nov, especially mid-March to April, and the first half of November), Golden Snub-nosed Monkey (most likely Oct-Mar, especially Oct-Nov), Red-and-white Flying Squirrel, 'Golden' Takin, Mainland Serow and Common Goral. Also a chance of (Asiatic) Black Bear, Leopard Cat and Yellow-throated Marten.

Photograph of Ibisbill

There are plenty of great birds to see in addition to the mammals in Central China, not least Ibisbill. This great flight shot was taken by Roger Wyatt.

Birds
Temminck's Tragopan, Ibisbill, Black-capped and Crested Kingfishers, Blue and (Asian) Azure-winged Magpies, (Eurasian) Nutcracker, Gould's Sunbird, some of China's 60 or so endemics including Golden Pheasant, Crested Ibis, Spectacled Parrotbill and Slaty Bunting, as well as Chinese Bamboo Partridge, Chinese Pond Heron, Golden Eagle, Grey-headed Lapwing, woodpeckers including White-backed, Long-tailed Minivet, Black-throated and Fire-capped Tits, Brown Dipper, Collared Finchbill, Vinous-throated Parrotbill, Plumbeous and White-capped Redstarts, Little and White-crowned Forktails, laughingthrushes, Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler, Pygmy and Scaly-breasted Wren Babblers, Chinese Babax, Red-billed Leiothrix, Green Shrike Babbler, Golden-breasted Fulvetta, Fork-tailed Sunbird, Yellow-throated Bunting and White-winged Grosbeak. Also a chance of Blood and Koklass Pheasants, Mandarin Duck, Wallcreeper, Long-billed Plover, Great Parrotbill and Maroon-backed Accentor, and an outside chance of Blackthroat (May-Aug, in Changqing and Foping NNRs). Species present during the northern summer only include Cinnamon Bittern, White-throated Needletail, Dollarbird, Swinhoe's Minivet, Asian Paradise and Blue-and-white Flycatchers, Fujian and Rufous-bellied Niltavas, Firethroat and Forest Wagtail.

Plants
Numerous spectacular rhododendrons, which most usually flower in April and cover whole mountain slopes in places.

Best Sites for Wildlife in Central China

Best Times for Wildlife in Central China

The peak times to look for Giant Panda are mid-March to April, when the females are in oestrus and being sought by males and before the growing thickness of the vegetation makes them even more difficult to see, and the first half of November, when the vegetation becomes less thick and before the winter weather sets in and makes getting about on foot much more difficult. The peak time to look for Golden Snub-nosed Monkey is October-November, when they usually move to lower altitudes for the winter. Unfortunately neither mid-March to April nor October-November coincide with the peak time for birds, which is late May and June, when summer visitors including Asian Paradise Flycatcher are present and the territories of high altitude specialities such as Temminck's Tragopan are more accessible.

Recommended Books etc. for Central China

Bradt Travel Guide: Chinese Wildlife by M Walters. Bradt, 2008.

A Guide to the Mammals of China by A Smith, Yan Xie et al. PUP, 2008.

The Mammals of China by Sheng Helin et al. China Forestry Publishing House, 1999.

A Field Guide to the Birds of China by J MacKinnon and K Phillipps. OUP, 2000.

Trip Reports for Central China

Many trip reports, some for Central China, are posted on the websites listed here. On some of these websites some reports are independent and some are posted by tour companies who organize tours to Central China. These tour companies and others also post their own reports on their websites, which are listed under 'Some Organized Tours to Central China' below.

Local Guides and Tours in Central China

The costs of organized tours partly reflect the quality of the tour leaders. Some leaders are certainly better than others and many companies claim their leaders are the best but even the best rely at least to some extent on the exceptional skills of the local guides they employ. If you are travelling independently, employing such local guides will greatly increase your chances of seeing the wildlife you wish to see.

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Accommodation in Central China

Some Organized Tours to Central China

There are many tour companies who organize tours to see mammals, birds, other wildlife and other natural wonders. The cost of these tours vary considerably according to such variables as the airlines used, the number of days the tours last, the number of sites visited, the number of people in the group (an important consideration if you wish to see such wildlife as rainforest mammals and birds), the number of tour leaders, the standard of accommodation and transport, and the percentage profit the company hopes to make. Generally, where the number of days tours last and the number of sites visited are similar, the cheapest tours are those that use the cheapest airlines, accommodation and local transport, that have the largest groups with the least number of leaders, and that make the least amount of profit. The most expensive tours tend to be those which are exceptionally long, use the most expensive accommodation (ridiculously lavish in some cases, even for single nights) and which make the most profit. Some tour costs partly reflect the quality of the tour leaders. Some leaders are certainly better than others and many companies claim their leaders are the best but even the best rely at least to some extent on the exceptional skills of the local guides they employ.

While tour companies organize tours with set itineraries many also organize custom tours for individuals and private groups who instead of taking a tour with a set itinerary want to follow their own itinerary to suit their own personal tastes, whether it be mammals, birds, other wildlife, other natural wonders or even man-made attractions, or a mixture of them all. Many organized tours with set itineraries are also fast-paced and target as many species as possible, whether they are mammals, birds or other wildlife or everything, which usually leaves little time to enjoy the best sites and individual species, but on a custom tour those taking part can specify the pace and the sites and species they wish to concentrate on. Custom tours also suit people who like to travel with people they already know, rather than with a group of strangers, and people with partners with different interests. Individuals and small groups will almost certainly have to pay more than the price of an organized tour with a set itinerary but a large group of friends may be able to travel for less than the price quoted for a set tour.

Tour companies who run organized tours or can arrange custom tours to Central China include the following.