Extravagant Sanqingshan

Couple of friends were planning for a team building activity in Sanqingshan. There were couple of other places in their list but the “Shan” got my attention as I saw it as a birding opportunity. Sanqingshan belongs to the Shangrao district which also houses the most famous Wuyuan. How did I miss Sanqingshan before? The name says it for all. “Extravagant”. Details will follow as I write further.

18^th May – took the high speed train D97 from Shanghai Hongqiao which was headed to Changsha. We got down at the Shangrao station after a four hour ride. Time to join the tourist parade. Guide was waiting for us with the “Loud Speaker” and “Flag”.  My worst nightmare became true by joining a tour group. Now, I’m part of the stereotype tour.

15-20 minutes of bus ride in the traffic less streets of the town and another 20 minutes turned out to be lusing green on both sides of the mountain road. Reminds me of the “Wuyuan”scape. Arrived at the first stop of our itinerary,  “Liangshan Mountain Scenic Spot”. By the time we got out of the bus, rain has started pouring. Fortunately, the scenic spot has caves, we took refuge in the caves.

After  couple of hours, the downpour was reduced to slight drizzle which immediately followed by lot of bird calls. The only calls which I recognized where Collared Finchbill, Red-billed Blue Magpie, Hwamei, Great Tit and Vinous-throated Parrotbill. The hike continued through uphill, downhill. When we crossed a stream, a strange call got my attention and I was  searching up the bushes and the bird darted out to the rocks on the opposite side, perched for couple of seconds to clinch the ID. First lifer of the trip came in the form of “Striated Prinia”. I patted myself as I wasn’t expecting that bird and clinching its ID in the field.

Hike got over right by the time of rain gods started showering again but that doesn’t stop be from another lifer. This bird was long coming, I briefly missed it in Wuyuan last year but I was so desperate to see it this time. A female “Russet Sparrow” took refuge in the tree from the heavy shower followed by a male, which stopped on an empty advertisement frame to check on me before getting into the shelter.

We headed to our hotel in Xanadu village for the dinner and night’s stay. Accomodation was arranged in SanqingshanMountain resort hotel. One of the three hotels at the base of the Jinsha cable car station. A beautiful stream was flowing behind the hotel, a very nice place but expensive though. A standard room costs 300RMB. As I was checking in my room, I heard the “Brown Dipper” calling in the stream just outside the Balcony. Plumbeous redstarts were plenty along the banks. Red-billed Blue Magpies as usual taking up the canopies.

Next day, about time to visit this UNESCO’s world heritage site under the notorious branding of “MostFamousChinaMountain”. There were two cable car station’s Jinsha Ropeway on the eastern side and Waishuangxi on the southern. Our team now got split into two. Hikers n non-hikers. I joined the hiking team in the hope of doing some birding but that was a big mistake with a huge waste of time. For me it seemed like Huangshan with people flooding the hiking path. I just cursed myself for a poor choice. After a 3 hours of hike, I reached the top end of the Waishuangxi cable car station. “Rufous-faced Warblers” were heard all around but none was seen.

A few metres down the ropeway was more active with Asian House Martin collecting mud and building nests, the colony consisted of several thousands of them. Some swifts passed by like a F18. Thanks to overcast sky, I could not get any details of it.

A berry tree gave me the first lifers of the day Buffy Laughingthrush and Grey-sided Scimitar Babbler. The grey-sided scimitar Babbler was not afraid of the human presence at all. It was so relaxed feeding on the berries and so the laughingthrush. Red-billed Leiothrix gave a cameo and disappeared. A bird wave passed by consisted of Mountain Bulbul, Black Bulbul and Black-throated Tit. Mountain Bulbul perched in a closeby branch and filled my frame for a while. I proceeded further to meet the rest of the team @ the hotel but got diverted by a pair of Chestnut-crowned Warbler. The bird wave lasted only for a couple of seconds after a couple of people joined me to see what I’m shooting. This cost me the Striated Yuhina. I came across three flocks with good no of birds but shooed away by the “Walkers”.

No one had a mind to reach the summit at 1819m. So all decided to head back to the Jinsha ropeway and call it a day. The walk to the Jinsha ropeway through the raised platform should be mesmerizing on a bright sunny day but on a dark, misty n rainy day it jus gave an eerie feeling.

The next phase of stay was in Sanqingshan Idyllic Rural village tourism Zone. Tourist attraction in the front and comfy cottages in the back, again not a budget accommodation. Standard room was 400RMB, the most funny thing is the entry fee for the place is another 90RMB if you don’t wish to stay inside. Plenty of Russet Sparrows, there was a nest next to my room window. No other noticeable birds were seen.

Next day was jus pack up things and head back to Shangrao to catch the D98 which was enroute to Shanghai from Changsha.

Bizarre granite cliffs named as “Women with Three Breasts”, “Man who went to Pee”. Watch it UNESCO, The mere 5 stars and World Heritage status doesn’t add up other than expensive entry fees(250 RMB for the ropeway) and expensive accommodation. Food was another joke, even a bowl of Tofu was priced at 68RMB. There could be better bird life at 1800m and other trails. With the cost involved, the no of birds seen, commercial exploitation, crowd “Sanqingshan” is not worthy of a visit. But for Landscape photographers and hikers, it’s a good place on a bright day. Make sure you have enough Cash “To Burn”.