Soaring with the Red-Crowned Cranes – Exploring ‘Crane Viewing’ City II
As a resident of Harbin, you must have visited Zhalong and been deeply attracted by the beautiful dance of the critically endangered crane. You must also dream of flying freely like these magnificent birds. Today, let’s make that dream a reality.
Flying Cranes
Zhalong Nature Reserve is located 26 kilometers southeast of Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province. With an area of 210,000 hectares, Zhalong Nature Reserve boasts vast reed marshes, numerous lakes, abundant reeds, rich fish and shrimp, a quiet environment, and stunning scenery, making it a ‘paradise’ for birds to breed and a protected area inhabited by approximately 150 bird species, with a large number of cranes, drawing much attention from the public, earning it the reputation of ‘Crane’s Homeland’.
Zhalong Overview
Blue Gem
Dragon Lake
Zhalong Nature Reserve is located in the downstream of the Yuhe River, formed by the overflow of the river. It is a large area of permanent weakly alkaline freshwater marshland consisting of many small shallow lakes and expansive meadows and grasslands. The maximum water depth of the marsh is 0.75 meters, and the maximum water depth of the lake reaches 5 meters. Cranes such as the critically endangered crane, white-necked crane, white-headed crane, hooded crane, white crane, and gray crane are all listed as national key protected species of Class I and II. Approximately 200+ critically endangered cranes and other waterfowl arrive here to reside and breed around April and May. Reed marshes and tufted moss grasses are the primary habitats of the critically endangered cranes. Reed grows up to 1-3 meters tall, inaccessible to humans, providing favorable conditions for the survival and breeding of these precious waterfowl.
Curvey River
Overlooking Zhalong
Bird’s-eye view of Zhalong
From multiple small lakes
Zhalong Frozen by Ice
The Crane Family
Cranes in the Snow
The Labor Lake System - Phase 1
First Edition ‘World Wetlands, China’s Crane Hometown’
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Author Bio: Huo Yanwen, Member of the China Photography Copyright Association, Member of the Heilongjiang Provincial Photography Association, Vice Chairman of Qiqihar City Culture and Tourism Photography Association, Member of Qiqihar Photography Association.
For 4 photographs, won awards in international photography competitions since 2013, and 18 photographs won in national photography competitions, with more than 30 photographs won in Heilongjiang Province and Qiqihar City photography competitions.
Photography work ‘The Happy Life of Critically Endangered Cranes’ won the ‘Excellent Creative Work Award’ in 2017, awarded by the Qiqihar City Literary and Artistic Association, and received the ‘Outstanding Literary and Artistic Worker Award’.
