CHINA: Yunnan & Hainan, June 2013Sign In or Register to add photos
The last week of our China trip was spent in Yunnan then Hainan. We took an overnight train from Sichuan to Kunming, Yunnan then flew to Simao where we were picked up by a pre-arranged taxi for the 3 hour drive to Mangba to see the rare Derbyan Parakeet. Over 50 fed in the fig trees in the village, protected by the villagers. I took lots of photos but all were lost. After a pleasant night in the village and early morning birding, we drove back to Simao for a return flight to Kunming. Another overnight train took us to Lijiang (my third visit). We took a taxi into the forested hills to the only known site for Biet's Laughingthrush and saw a pair after some 2 hours of searching along the road. We based ourselves for 24 hours in the delightful Bruce Chalet in Shuhe, an old town near Lijiang - not quite so spectacular but much quieter. An overnight train took us back to Kunming for our morning flight to Sanya in Hainan. where we were eventually collected by the Tianchi Resort vehicle for the 2hr drive to the resort. We spent 3 days birding there, recording all the endemics but failing to see the Peacock-Pheasant. I spent half a day exploring Sanya, after Dave and Phil had left, before flying to Beijing and home.