Feathered friends

Every Sunday morning, a group of bird-lovers find a nice, quiet place in Zizhu Park, set up their cameras and wait patiently for their feathered friends to appear. China is home to 1,300 of the 9,000 birds species known worldwide. Despite being a city of more than 16 million people (according to the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics), Beijing has about 350 kinds of birds and these winged creatures can be seen every day.

"Magpies can usually be found in the park as they seem happy to be around human beings," says Zhao Xinru, ornithologist from Beijing Normal University and one of the organizers of the group.

In the past 20 years, Zhao has organized numerous bird-watching sessions and contests throughout the country. In Beijing, you can find Egrets, Woodpeckers, general Nighthawk, white waist Swift, Sambo birds and the common Azure-winged Magpie, of which there are 26 kinds. The city also has wild geese and ducks, Spoonbills, Orioles, Chickadees, and more than 100 kinds of Cuckoos.