Day 288: Landing in Taiwan

Spotting a Savanna Nightjar before bed.

October 15, 2015: Dasyueshan, Taiwan 鈥 I didn鈥檛 have many birds left to search for around Chengdu before my flight out today, but the morning didn鈥檛 pass without some excitement. Sid and I were driving into the city before lunch when he suddenly asked, 鈥淗ey, what day of the week is it?鈥 As usual, I had no idea (weekdays don鈥檛 mean much this year) but my phone told us it was Thursday. 鈥淎w, man,鈥 said Sid, 鈥淪orry, I forgot鈥攚e鈥檙e not allowed to take this car into town today.鈥

Chengdu, like a few other cities around the world, has instituted license plate restrictions to curb traffic: If your plate ends in a certain digit, you can only drive on certain days. No big deal for us鈥攚e headed back to Sid鈥檚 house to swap for his van before continuing into the city. To get off the motorway, though, we had to pass through a toll booth, and an overloaded truck in front of us could not fit through the toll. The truck pulled right into the booth before its driver realized it wouldn鈥檛 go through, and things ground to a halt.

After a minute, a guy with a radio appeared and directed the truck to reverse out of the toll gate, inch by inch, while we watched and waited from alongside. Somehow, the radio man missed a parked car sitting behind the truck, and the truck backed straight into the car. Drivers jumped out, other people jumped out, and suddenly the toll booth turned into a complete blockage. Luckily, Sid had edged off to one side where we could squeeze through a closed lane, and, after a quick negotiation with the booth operator, we were on our way with the slow-motion wreck in our wake.

鈥淥nce you鈥檝e lived in China,鈥 said Sid over dinner a couple of nights ago, 鈥渋t鈥檚 not easy to go back to a place like the U.K. Minute for minute, this country is more interesting than almost anywhere else! It鈥檚 like living inside a TV drama: Once you get swept up in it, you just have to stick around to see what happens.鈥

It鈥檚 certainly been a memorable week birding with him in Sichuan. Sid has himself lived an interesting existence: Born in Wales; spent two years as a shepherd in the Falklands right after the Falklands War, then an intense few years working with Bosnian refugees with the Red Cross in Denmark; then moved to Sichuan ten years ago to teach English and fell into bird guiding, which now occupies him full time. He is a sharp birder and uncommonly good company in the field, and keeps all kinds of helpful information at .

I landed in Taiwan this evening and headed straight for the mountains, where, after dark, I had time to see a Savanna Nightjar before bed. The big year rolls on!

New birds today: 3

Year list: 4822

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