China's wealth of vegetation and variety of landscapes has fostered the development of a great diversity of animals. Throughout the Chinese mountains, takin (or goat antelope), wild yaks, argali sheep, numerous species of pheasants and a variety of laughing thrushes may be found.

The extreme northeastern part of China is also inhabited by some interesting mammals, such as reindeer, moose, musk deer, bears, sables and Manchurian tigers.

China has some great bird-watching opportunities, particularly in spring. Head to the strategically located Zhalong Nature Reserve   in Heilongjiang to take in a well-used migratory route; visit Qinghai Hu(p879) in Qinghai for the breeding grounds of wild geese, sandpipers and countless other birds; or head to Mai Po Marsh   in Hong Kong or Caohai Hu    in Guizhou.

For sheer diversity of wildlife, the tropical south of Yunnan province, particularly the area around Xishuangbanna , is one of the richest in China. Here, you may have chance encounters with the parrot, hornbill, slender loris, gibbon, sunb-nosed monkes ,the indochina tiger and head of wild Indian elephants.

KILL OR CURE?

Before you swallow that time-honoured remedy, ask for the ingredients. Despite laws banning their capture, protected and endangered animals continue to be led to the chemist counters of China.

As traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) makes it big globally, international laws prohibiting the trade of many species have forced practitioners to seek out alternative ingredients. Tiger bones for instance, are being replaced with the bones of rodents.

The difficulty lies in getting Chinese consumers to accept such alternatives. Rodent bones just don't come close to tiger bones in prestige.

Chinese Taoists and Buddhists also believe in removing protected animals from TCM. They maintain that TCM is traditionally based on achieving a balance in nature. What is bad for the environment is therefore bad for the soul.

These days poachers trading in protected species can find themselves behind bars for up to 15 years while those found smuggling the internationally revered panda face death. Even con- sumers can be punished, a law that has been around for some time but only recently enforced. Ingredients to watch for include bear bile, rhinoceros horns, dried seahorse, musk deer, antelope horns, leopard bones, sea lions, macaques, alligators, anteaters, pangolins, green sea turtles, freshwater turtles, rat snakes and giant clams.