Birds' Paradise is located in Tianma Village,

Xinhui District Xinhui, alternately romanized as Sunwui and also known as Kuixiang, is an urban district of Jiangmen in Guangdong, China. It grew from a separate city founded at the confluence of the Tan and West Rivers. It has a population of about 735,500 ...

Jiangmen Jiangmen ( zh, c=江门), postal map romanization, alternately romanization of Chinese, romanized in Cantonese as Kongmoon, is a prefecture-level city in Guangdong provinces of China, Province in southern China. It consists of three urban distri ...

Guangdong Province ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. Birds' Paradise 小鳥天堂.
Accessed 18 Oct. 2016 It is a unique tourist attraction which is known for its beautiful natural environment and rich bird life. The main body of Birds' Paradise is a small island with a thick

banyan tree A banyan, also spelled banian ( ), is a Ficus, fig that develops accessory trunks from Aerial root#"Stranglers" (prop-root), adjacent prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely. This distinguishes banyans from other trees ...

forest on it. In 1933, Ba Jin () happened to take a trip here, and was deeply impressed by its wonderful views, so he wrote a famous article, ''Birds' Heaven'' to in memory of this special experience. In 1984, Ba Jin () inscribed the words 小鳥天堂, and since then, this place was named after Birds' Paradise (). In 2016, the local government decided to make Birds' Paradise a national wetland park.广东拟建10个国家级湿地公园江门小鸟天堂占一席.
Accessed 23 Dec. 2016

History

Its history can date back to the late

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

and the early

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

. It is said that a serious drought attacked the village around that time, so the villagers tried their best to dredge a river to water the farmland. However, the rich man in the village and the officers strongly disagreed with this, and they forced the villagers to block the channel, because they thought the river would destroy the geomancy (), which might become a threat to them later. Therefore, the villagers had no choice but to fill the river with soil, and thus a small island was formed. Someone inserted a branch into the small island, and the branch sprouted and grew into a banyan tree in the next year. Many years later that banyan tree had spread and developed into a forest, which gradually covered the island.

Biology and ecology

Animals

There are almost 40 species of birds inhabiting the forest in Birds' Paradise. The

black-crowned night heron The black-crowned night heron (''Nycticorax nycticorax'') r black-capped night heron commonly shortened to just night heron in Eurasia, is a medium-sized heron found throughout a large part of the world, including parts of Europe, Asia, and Nort ...

Chinese pond heron The Chinese pond heron (''Ardeola bacchus'') is an East Asian freshwater bird of the heron family, (Ardeidae). It is one of six species of birds known as "pond herons" (genus '' Ardeola''). It is parapatric (or nearly so) with the Indian pond h ...

and the

western cattle egret The western cattle egret (''Ardea ibis'') is a species of heron (family (biology), family heron, Ardeidae) found in the tropics, subtropics and warm temperate zones. Formerly, most taxonomic authorities lumped this species and the eastern cattle ...

are the most common birds found on the island. In addition, there are also other species of birds like the

great egret The great egret (''Ardea alba''), also known as the common egret, large egret, great white egret, or great white heron, is a large, widely distributed egret. The four subspecies are found in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and southern Europe. R ...

white wagtail The white wagtail (''Motacilla alba'') is a small passerine bird in the family Motacillidae, which also includes pipits and longclaws. The species breeds in the Palearctic zone in most of Europe and Asia and parts of North Africa; it also has ...

oriental magpie-robin The Oriental magpie-robin (''Copsychus saularis'') is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but now considered an Old World flycatcher. They are distinctive black and white birds with a long ...

Eurasian blackbird The common blackbird (''Turdus merula'') is a species of true thrush. It is also called the Eurasian blackbird (especially in North America, to distinguish it from the unrelated New World blackbirds), or simply the blackbird. It breeds in Eur ...

great tit The great tit (''Parus major'') is a small passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is a widespread and common species throughout Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and east across the Palearctic to the Amur River, south to parts of No ...

, light-vented bulbul and the

red-whiskered bulbul The red-whiskered bulbul (''Pycnonotus jocosus''), or crested bulbul, is a passerine bird native to Asia. It is a member of the bulbul family. It is a resident frugivore found mainly in tropical Asia. It has been introduced in many tropical are ...

Flora

The thick forest on the island consists of many banyan trees. Among the forest, there is one especially large and ancient banyan tree, and it is so large that even ten people can not hold the tree. Besides, in order to make the environment more suitable for the birds to live, the staffs plant some other plants like

Anubias ''Anubias'' is a genus of aquatic and semi-aquatic flowering plants in the family Araceae, native to tropical central and western Africa. They primarily grow in rivers and streams, but can also be found in marshes. They are characterized by broad ...

Salix babylonica ''Salix babylonica'' (Babylon willow or weeping willow; ) is a species of willow native to dry areas of northern China, Korea, Mongolia, Japan, and Siberia but cultivated for millennia elsewhere in Asia, being traded along the Silk Road to southw ...

Hedychium coronarium ''Hedychium coronarium'', the white garland-lily or white ginger lily, is a perennial flowering plant in the ginger family Zingiberaceae, native to the forest understorey of Asia. Other common names include butterfly lily, Khumpui, fragrant g ...

Nelumbo ''Nelumbo'' is a genus of aquatic plants with large, showy flowers. Members are commonly called lotus, though the name is also applied to various other plants and plant groups, including the unrelated genus '' Lotus''. Members outwardly resemb ...

Nelumbo nucifera ''Nelumbo nucifera'', also known as the pink lotus, sacred lotus, Indian lotus, or simply lotus, is one of two extant taxon, extant species of aquatic plant in the Family (biology), family Nelumbonaceae. It is sometimes colloquially called a ...

and

Argyranthemum frutescens ''Argyranthemum frutescens'', known as Paris daisy, marguerite or marguerite daisy, is a perennial plant known for its flowers. It is native to the Canary Islands (part of Spain). Hybrids derived from this species ( garden marguerites) are widel ...

, so that the ecosystem there can be more intact.

Tourist attractions

Water Channel (榕荫水道)

The water channel around the island contains many banyan trees on both sides. These provide shade for visitors who can take boat trips to enjoy the scenery, as well as listen to local folk tunes, sung by professional singers.

Bird Museum (鸟博馆)

Covering an area of over 1500 square meters, the bird museum aims to share information about the site's avian fauna. Different kinds of bird specimens and pictures are displayed, whilst live bird shows are provided by trained staff.

Waterfront Culture Pavilion (水乡风情展示馆)

This pavilion shows visitors the special waterfront culture in Lingnan area (). It contains exhibits relating to waterfront culture, including hand-tools, furniture, and old-styled clothing. Many items have been donated by the local people.

Artwork

Ba Jin (巴金) – Birds' Heaven

Birds' Paradise was made famous by the passage ''Birds' Heaven'', written by

Ba Jin Li Yaotang ( zh, s=李尧棠, t=李堯棠, p=Lǐ Yáotáng; 25 November 1904 – 17 October 2005), better known by his pen name Ba Jin ( zh, s=巴金, t=巴金, p=Bā Jīn) or his courtesy name Li Feigan ( zh, s=李芾甘, t=李芾甘, p=Lǐ F� ...

, a renowned Chinese writer. He visited the site in 1993 with friends, and was so impressed by the beautiful scene that he wrote about his trip. Many years later, this passage, ''Birds' Heaven'', was listed into the textbook for primary school students. As a result of this article, many more people now know about this place.巴金：鸟的天堂.
Accessed 20 Dec. 2016

Wu Guanzhong (吴冠中) – Paradise for Small Birds

This picture is an ink painting painted by

Wu Guanzhong Wu Guanzhong (; 29 August 1919 – 25 June 2010) was a contemporary Chinese painter widely recognized as a founder of modern Chinese painting. He is considered to be one of the greatest contemporary Chinese painters. Wu's artworks display both ...

in 1989. After hearing about Birds' Paradise, Wu Guanzhong looked forward to visiting because he thought the site might accord with his own ideal image of paradise.吴冠中著名画作《小鸟天堂》的背后.
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120519004738/http://culture.people.com.cn/GB/42223/140270/11978835.html , date=2012-05-19 Accessed 20 Dec. 2016 When he finally arrived, he was so impressed by its scenery that he decided to draw it. In 1992, Wu Guanzhong donated this picture to the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

in London.Paradise for Paradise for Small Birds 小鳥天堂.
Accessed 22 Nov. 2016

References

Guangdong