User:Irenelys/sandbox

Birds' Paradise

Birds' Paradise Location in Guangdong Province
Geography
Coordinates	22°46′N 113°05′E
Administration
China
Additional information
Time zone	China Standard (UTC+8)
Official website	小鸟天堂官网

Bird's Paradise is located in Tianma Village, Xinhui District, Jiangmen, Guangdong Province, China. It is an unique tourist attraction which is known for its beautiful natural environment. Actually, the main body of Birds' Paradise is a small island with a thick banyan tree forest on it. For many people, Birds' Paradise is considered as the wonderland for birds. In 1933, Ba Jin(巴金)happened to take a trip here, and he 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（巴金）inscribed the words 小鸟天堂, and since then, this place was named after Birds' Paradise(小鸟天堂). In 2016, the local government decided to make Bird's Paradise as a national wetland park.

History

Its history can date back to the late Ming dynasty and the early Qing dynasty. It is said that a serious drought attacked the village at 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（风水）, 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. Years and years later, the banyan tree grew into a forest, and the forest gradually covered throughout the island. That's how Birds' Paradise came into being.

Biology and ecology

Black-crowned Night-heron2

Animal

There are almost 40 species of birds inhabiting in the forest in Birds' Paradise.Nycticorax nycticorax, Ardeola bacchus, Bubulcus ibis are the most common birds that you can find on the island. Besides, there are also other species of birds like Ardea alba, Motacilla alba, oriental magpie-robin, Copsychus saularis, Turdus merula,Parus major, Pycnonotus sinensis, Pycnonotus jocosus and so on.

Flora

In fact, 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, Salix babylonica, Hedychium coronarium, Nelumbo, Nelumbo nucifera and Argyranthemum frutescens, so that the ecosystem there can be more intact.

Tourist Attractions

Water Channel(榕荫水道）

The water channel is around the island. Along this channel, there are a lot of banyan trees on both two sides, so the tourists are able to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the forest on the boat under the tree shadows without caring about the sunburn. At the same time, they can also listen to the local folk songs sang by the professional singers.

Bird Museum（鸟博馆）

Covering an area of over 1500 square meters, the bird museum is aiming to sharing information about birds. Different kinds of bird specimens and pictures are on exhibition in the museum. Also, people are able to see some interesting bird shows performed by the trainer and the lovely birds.

Waterfront Culture Pavilion(水乡风情展示馆）

This pavilion is mainly to show the tourists the special water front culture in Lingnan area(岭南地区). In the pavilion, there are a lot of exhibits related to waterfront culture, including some labor instruments, furniture, and old-styled clothing. Many of the exhibits are donated by the local people.

Art Works

Ba Jin（巴金） -Birds' Heaven

Actually, what makes Birds' Paradise become famous is the passage Birds' Heaven that wrote by Ba Jin, a great Chinese writer. In 1933, Ba Jin visited this place with his friends, and he was impressed by the beautiful scene so he wrote a passage to in memory of this trip. Many years later, this passage, Birds' Heaven, was listed into the textbook for primary school students. Thanks to this article, more and more people know about this place.

Wu Guanzhong（吴冠中）-Paradise for Paradise for Small Birds

This picture is a ink painting painted by Wu Guanzhong in 1989. After hearing about Birds' Paradise, Wu Guanzhong was looking forward to visiting this place, because he thought Birds' Paradise might accord with his ideal image of paradise. When he finally arrived at there, he was impressed by the amazing scene, so he decided to draw it down. In 1992, Wu Guanzhong donated this picture to the British Museum.