Zhang Lin: China’s Best Bird Watch Guide

Zhang Lin looks ordinary， though everything about appearance suggests that he is an outdoor sports enthusiast. He is 1.73 meters in height; his face is dark due to year-round exposure to sunlight; he wears jeans which are almost whitewashed through wear and tear. But Zhang Lin is an extraordinary expert on birds in China and his name is now widely known among bird-watchers at home and abroad. As a guide for birdwatchers， he has taken birders from more than 30 countries and regions to watch precious feathered friends around China. At some overseas bird-watch websites， he is a big star.

Looking back， Zhang Lin says that he is destined to do something about birds. His first experience with birds occurred when he was six. An injured baby parakeet managed to find its way into his home. He bandaged the bird and nursed it back to health before setting it free. This contact with an injured parakeet established a bond between Zhang Lin and his flying friends. As a child， he and his father frequently took bird-watching journeys into suburbs.

In 1999 Zhang Lin started his four-year study at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Purple Mountain in the east of Nanjing became his birdwatching Mecca at weekends. He was totally fascinated with a species of birds that he had never seen before. He didn’t know the name of the bird until he put his hands on “A Field Guide to the Birds of China”， a 586-page guidebook by John MacKinnon and Karen Phillipps published in 2000. It was “red-billed blue magpie (Urocissa erythrorhyncha). The book opened a door to a world of birds. In this book， he found the names of the birds that he had seen before. He was elated and had a sense of accomplishment. From then on， he managed to learn more about birds and birdwatching. So he bought cameras and squeezed time to watch birds in the mountain. His album of birds was later distributed among students and became very popular on the campus.

Upon graduation in 2003， he landed a good job with Shanghai Airlines. In his spare time he joined a bird-watch club and took bird-watching journeys with other enthusiasts. After two years， he decided to quit his job and dedicated his time and energy to bird studies.

On May 1， 2006， Zhang Lin came to watch birds at Mentougou， a suburb of Beijing， at the invitation of a friend. While watching birds with his cutting-edge apparatus， he met with a team of students from Beijing Normal University on a field study in the wooded area. His birdwatching devices opened eyes of these students. Through Zhang Lin’s very expensive professional 10X zoom binoculars， students were able to see minute details of birds far away. Zhang Lin gave them a lecture on the spot. Appreciating Zhang’s generosity and warm-hearted explanations， the students gave him 500 yuan as rent for the use of his devices.

In the following days， Zhang Lin came to the Beijing Zoo to watch birds with his binoculars. Attracted by his apparatus， many tourists asked to watch birds through Zhang’s devices and later thanked him for his generosity and mini lectures with cash. At the end of the day Zhang found himself richer by more than 1，000 yuan. Encouraged by the income， the young entrepreneurial birdwatcher spent the next 20 some days at the zoo， providing his service to curious tourists and making good money.

Zhang Lin soon made enough money to launch himself on a birdwatching journey across Europe for a month. The 8-nation 5，500-km trip broadened his horizon and enabled him to see birds that cannot be seen in China. And it was in Germany that he found that working a guide for birdwatchers was a very interesting job.

As soon as he came back to Shanghai， he contacted a prominent tour operator and asked about the possibility of working as a birding guide. The answer was affirmative. He signed up with the tour operator and began his long wait.

In November 2007， he was employed by an English couple to watch a wild colony of red-crowned cranes in Yancheng， Jiangsu Province. The red-crowned cranes in Yancheng， Jiangsu Province are the world’s only colony of red-crowed cranes that still migrate. Of about 2，800 red-crowned cranes in the world， those in Hokkaido， Japan have given up migrating and stayed put there because local people there feed them constantly. The same happened to the group in Korea. Accompanied by Zhang Lin， the couple visited the nature reserve and was able to see the big birds. The couple was very happy to photograph the rare birds.

Working as a local bird guide is by no means an easy job. In June 2009， Zhang Lin took an American to watch birds at Shimen， Hunan Province in central China. They ran into a storm which destroyed bridges and felled trees. With borrowed tools from villagers， Zhang sawed trees and removed trees that had fallen across the road. Fortunately， he was able to help the American see the birds he had traveled all the way from America to see. Back home， the American recounted his unusual experience and spoke highly of Zhang as a local bird guide.

It is through hard work and thanks to his expertise that Zhang has gradually established a firm cliental base. Based in Shanghai， he often takes birding clients to neighboring bird habitats such as Yancheng， Rudong， and Chongming Island， the last two close to Shanghai. These trips usually are about one or two days long. And sometimes he takes birdwatchers to Swan Lake in Xinjiang， Bird Island on the Blue Sea in Qinghai Province and Qinling Mountains in Shanxi Province.

Zhang Lin says that China has great prospects for birdwatching. Birding started in Europe and now it is a very flourishing industry. In America， there are 46 million above-16-year-old birdwatchers. The industry provides thousands of job opportunities and produces an income of 20 billion a year. China has great potential for birdwatching because China boasts a wide variety of birds. Forty-one percent of the bird species in the world can be found in China. Some rare birds such as Tragopan caboti and Chinese Merganser can only be seen in China and attract birdwatchers from all over the world.

According to Zhang Lin， to be a local bird guide， one needs profound knowledge of birds， hands-on bird-watching experiences and a good command of the English language. In foreign countries， most bird guides are ornithologists. Though China has rich bird resources and the market is potentially great， the country has now no more than 10 qualified bird guides. An expert with China Academy of Sciences has called for training bird guides in China.

Zhang Lin enjoys his life now. He makes good money and enjoys birdwatching. But none of his client is Chinese. A few are from Japan and Korea， but most are from Europe and America. Zhang Lin says that he would be very happy if he can work 20 days a month as a local bird guide and spends the remaining 10 days birding himself.

A friend in UK says that local bird guide is the best job in the world. Zhang Lin feels that it is most suitable for him. Some friends suggest he study for a degree in ornithology and engage in environmental protection in the future. Another friend suggests that Zhang engage himself in environmental evaluation. But Zhang Lin just loves birds. The birdman wants to lead a life as free as birds. □