BEIJING -- Once considered a retiree's pastime, birdwatching is captivating a rising number of young people in China amid the steady improvement of the environment and the public's growing embrace of ecological values.

To many of these young people, birdwatching offers a window into another world. "It's like Harry Potter," said Wu Yue, a Generation-Z birdwatcher who described her life before taking up her binoculars as that of a Muggle, unaware of the magic around her.

"I never realized there were so many birds around me. It's as if the world suddenly lit up," Wu said.

A NEW GENERATION BIRDWATCHERS

"Look at the kingfisher on that stump -- What a beautiful color!" Chen Jie whispered after two hours of waiting for his "birding buddies" on a misty spring morning in the wetlands of Huzhou, eastern China.

Chen, a photographer in his early 20s, once focused on portrait and landscape photography, but that all changed in 2024, when he spotted a light-vented bulbul resting on a tree branch. "It felt like meeting a new friend," he said.

Similar revelations often strike China's young birders at unexpected moments. Lei Feiran remembers pointing her night-vision scope at the moon and seeing hundreds of glowing dots, only to discover they were migrating birds, phosphorescent in the dark.

"If even a tiny migratory bird can cross oceans and the Himalayas, what's stopping us?" Lei asked. "Shouldn't we find the courage to chase our dreams and protect them?"

But birding doesn't just happen on the trails. Off the trails, young birders are giving birds playful identities online.

The light-vented bulbul has been dubbed "Mr. White-Headed Old Man," the common blackbird has been given the moniker "Master Dong," and the scarlet northern cardinal has been said to resemble an iconic character from the "Angry Birds" game franchise. These entertaining names make it feel like the birds are part of their squad, according to birdwatchers.

SKY OF OPPORTUNITY

China is home to about 1,500 bird species, accounting for about 13 percent of the global total.

By the end of 2023, there were approximately 340,000 birdwatching enthusiasts in China, an increase of about 200,000 over a period of five years.

"It's like stamp collecting -- the more birds you spot, the more rewarding it feels. Many document their sightings online through checklists and journals," said Ma Li, one such enthusiast from Hangzhou in eastern China.

Birders actively share their photos, sightings and tips on social media platforms.

Online platforms like Bird Report help birders log sightings and exchange knowledge. The platform had over 50,000 registered users by the end of 2023, a 49 percent increase from the previous year, and recorded nearly 3.6 million new bird observations in a significant rise of 141 percent from 2022.

One popular birdwatching destination is Hengshui Lake, a national nature reserve in northern China, which is a vital stopover for migratory birds on the East Asian-Australasian Flyway.

Thanks to the expertise of professional birding guides, Hengshui Lake attracts 250,000 birdwatching tourists each year, offering visitors the chance to observe at least 65 species and over 10,000 birds in a single day.

WINGS OF GROWTH

As birdwatching gains momentum nationwide, local tourism authorities are responding to this rising trend with nature-based offerings.

In Dali, a popular tourist destination, birdwatching routes now guide visitors through mountains and lakes. Similarly, at Poyang Lake, China's largest freshwater lake, eight themed birdwatching routes have attracted over 2 million visitors.

Beyond tourism, the birdwatching craze is fueling a boom in related equipment and services sectors.

A search for "birdwatching" on e-commerce platform Taobao returns a broad range of products, from binoculars to guidebooks. One popular pair of birdwatching binoculars, priced at 272 yuan (about $38), received over 10,000 orders in April alone.

For those daunted by the price of birding lenses, which can easily cost tens of thousands of yuan, camera rental services offer a budget-friendly option, with daily rates typically ranging from 100 yuan to 300 yuan.

Birdwatching is now more than a pastime in rural areas of the Yunnan, Guizhou and Hunan provinces. It is becoming a driver of local development.