Day 1: Arrivals into Beijing International Airport (PKX), from which we will transfer to our hotel in the mountains west of the city. Night in Lingshan. 

‍Day 2: The cold, snowbound slopes here at this time of year host Siberian Accentor, Pallas’s Rosefinch, Chinese Beautiful Rosefinch, Long-tailed Rosefinch, and other wintering migrants such as Cinereous Vulture, Red-throated Thrush, Naumann's Thrush, and Güldenstädt’s Redstart. In addition, there are several resident species to look for, including Beijing Babbler, Plain Laughingthrush, Silver-throated Bushtit, Meadow Bunting, and Godlewski’s Bunting. Night at Lingshan.

‍Day 3: Full morning on-site, searching primarily for the accentor and rosefinches, before driving back to Beijing. We will have time to swing by any spots hosting Baikal Teal, Mandarin Duck, or flocks of Japanese Waxwing which are usually (but not always!) present at this time of year, before an evening flight to Nanchang where we will stay for five nights. Night in Nanchang.

Day 4: This morning we'll go searching for the much-wanted Baer's Pochard (some big flocks usually winter in this area), and probably also see our first Masked Laughingthrush and White-browed Laughingthrush. This area usually has many buntings, including the sought-after Yellow-browed Bunting, and if there have been recent sightings we might be able to track down the scarce Collared Crow. This evening will see us target Grey-backed Thrush and Dusky Thrush in one of the town parks. Night in Nanchang. 

‍Day 5-6: One of the most astounding sites in the world for wintering waterbirds, Poyang Lake is now the sole wintering area for the beautiful Siberian Crane, often seen alongside the more numerous Hooded and White-naped Cranes. These are not the only threatened waterbirds to target here; Lesser White-fronted Goose, Swan Goose, and Oriental Stork are present in good numbers too. We should also see Brown Crake, Red-billed Starling, Marsh Grassbird, Chinese Penduline Tit, Siberian Pipit, Pallas's Reed Bunting, and Chestnut-eared Bunting. There is certainly potential to come across something rarer here, such as Chinese Grey Shrike or Ochre-rumped Bunting. Plenty of extra time allows us to enjoy the more widespread species that are abundant here, including the eastern subspecies of both Taiga Bean Goose and Tundra Bean Goose, plus Greater White-fronted Goose, Tundra Swan, Eastern Spot-billed Duck, the stunning Falcated Duck, and so much more! Nights in Nanchang. 

‍Day 7: Today we'll take a day trip to nearby Wuyuan, the main target here at this time of year being the Endangered Scaly-sided Merganser which occurs along the river that flows through the valley. We will do some forest birding afterwards, but this area is hard work in winter compared to when we visit on spring tours. Possibilities include Chestnut Bulbul, Collared Finchbill, Short-tailed Parrotbill, Huet's Fulvetta, Grey-sided Scimitar Babbler, Chinese Hwamei, and Fork-tailed Sunbird, but getting just a couple of these would be a good result. Night in Nanchang. 

Day 8: Today we'll be removing our winter clothing and flying to Sanya on the south coast of tropical Hainan! We will aim to arrive at Jianfengling National Nature Reserve in time for an afternoon session in the hides today. Night at Jianfengling.

‍Day 9-10: Inside Jianfengling National Nature Reserve, both Hainan Partridge and the previously mythical Hainan Peacock Pheasant have been regularly visiting feeding hides since 2022 and are now daily attendees! Also visiting for food are the endemic “Swinhoe’s” Black-throated Laughingthrush, the stunning Rufous-cheeked Laughingthrush, and hopefully Indochinese Green Magpie. Other main targets are the endemic Hainan Leaf Warbler and near-endemic specialties like Chinese Barbet, Ratchet-tailed Treepie, Yellow-billed Nuthatch, plus the Hainan subspecies of Red-headed Trogon, Pale Blue Flycatcher, and Fork-tailed Sunbird. The retiring Mountain Scops Owl is quite easy to see here, perhaps one of the best places in the world to see this bird rather than just hear it!

We will also visit the north-west of the island on one low tide, where several Spoon-billed Sandpiper have become so used to photographers that we can approach them to within metres are they feed unconcernedly on the mudflats. These birds have been reliable for many years now, offering quite a phenomenal experience! We also have chances here for Nordmann's Greenshank and Black-faced Spoonbill, though these can be difficult in some years. Depending on the timing of the low tide and how successful we have been at Jianfengling, we might be able to add some bonus spotlighting for Oriental Bay Owl, but this is not guaranteed. Night at Jianfengling.

‍Day 11: After one last morning of birding, we take a flight from Sanya to Nanning, then drive to the stunningly scenic Nonggang National Nature Reserve. Night outside Nonggang NNR. 

‍Day 12-13: Our time in Nonggang will primarily focus on finding the near-endemic Nonggang Babbler, known from a tiny region of limestone karst forest bordering Vietnam. It descends from the limestone pinnacles in winter and has been encouraged to some feeding arenas, so we hope to have some excellent views of this truly special bird! The area has relatively low diversity and can be hard work away from the feeders, so we will spend much of our time hide-hopping. Which birds are coming can vary month to month, but we could see Bar-backed Partridge, Blue-rumped Pitta, White-winged Magpie, Black-throated Laughingthrush, David's Fulvetta, Yellow-eyed Babbler, Chestnut-capped Babbler, Buff-breasted Babbler, Streaked Wren-Babbler, White-tailed Robin,  or maybe even Pale-footed Bush Warbler. 

Several Phylloscopus warblers winter in this area, but all are hard to see in the quiet forest. We may have chances for Limestone Leaf Warbler, Bianchi's Warbler, or White-spectaced Warbler. Additionally, the mythical White-eared Night Heron has been available in recent winters for visiting birders – we will certainly go for it if at all possible! There will also be an option one afternoon to visit a nearby reserve where the largest remaining population of White-headed Langur remains in the wild. Nights outside Nonggang NNR.

‍Day 14: The tour ends with dropoffs at Nanning Airport (NNG), which has multiple daily flights to nearby Guangzhou International Airport (CAN), or back to Beijing International Airport (PKX) where we started the tour.

YUNNAN ENDEMICS EXTENSION 

Day 1: Instead of flying out of Nanning, those on the extension will take the first bullet train of the morning from Nanning directly to Kunming. We will spend the last hours of daylight at a reliable site for the Endangered near-endemic Giant Nuthatch and the endemic Yunnan Nuthatch. Overnight in Dali.

Day 2: Birding on the upper floodplains of the Yangtze and surrounding coniferous hillsides, the star attraction of this region is White-speckled Laughingthrush, a stunning and rare species which is now easy to see at a photography blind also attended by Black-faced Laughingthrush, Spotted Laughingthrush, Elliot’s Laughingthrush, and Black-streaked Scimitar Babbler. The other specialties we will be searching out are Eye-ringed Parrotbill, the evolutionarily unique Rufous-tailed Babbler (perhaps better known as Moupinia), Sharpe's Rosefinch, Crimson-browed Finch, and Black-headed Greenfinch. Night in Lijiang. 

Day 3: This morning we’ll depart before dawn and drive several hours to the Black-and-white Snub-nosed Monkey Reserve. Here we can expect intimate encounters with this unique primate! There are chances for a few extra birds like Yunnan Fulvetta and maybe Tibetan Serin before we drive back to Lijiang for afternoon birding along the Yangtze again, where we might be able to find the scarce Striped Prinia and have extra chances for any missing species from the previous day. Night in Lijiang. 

Day 4: After another full day around the city for any birds still needed, the tour ends with drop-offs at Lijiang Airport (LJG) in the late afternoon. Participants can book an evening flight back to Beijing International Airprot (PKX) where we started the tour, or otherwise fly to nearby Guangzhou International Airport (CAN) for onwards connections.