Mug Shot — «Xiamen - Island of Little Egrets»

City: Xiamen Country: China Edition: 2008 Icon Edition Belongs to: 413 users (37 trading, 138 seeking)

Xiamen is a major city on the southeast (Taiwan Strait) coast of the People's Republic of China. It is administered as a sub-provincial city of Fujian province with population of 3.61 million. Its built up area is now bigger than the old urban island area and covers now all 6 districts of Xiamen (Huli, Siming, Jimei, Tong'an, Haicang and recently Xiang'an), for a total of 3,531,147 inhabitants. It borders Quanzhou to the north and Zhangzhou making with this city a unique built up area of more than 5 million people. The Jinmen (Kinmen) Islands administered by the Republic of China (Taiwan) are less than 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) away. Xiamen and the surrounding southern Fujian countryside are the ancestral home to large communities of overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia and Taiwan. The city was a treaty port in the 19th century and one of the four original Special Economic Zones opened to foreign investment and trade when China began economic reforms in the early 1980s. It is endowed with educational and cultural institutions supported by the overseas Chinese diaspora. In 2006, Xiamen was ranked as China's second 'most suitable city for living'. City is located along the southeast coast of Fujian Province. Formerly an isolated island, it was linked with the mainland after the founding of the People's Republic in 1949 by the construction of Jimei and Xinglin causeways. Perhaps because of its shape or because it used to be a habitat of white egrets, it is also called "Egret Island." Located in the subtropical zone, Xiamen has warm and humid climate, with flowers blooming all the year round.

The Great Egret (Ardea alba), also known as Great White Egret, Common Egret, or Great White Heron,is a large, widely-distributed egret. Distributed across most of the tropical and warmer temperate regions of the world, in southern Europe it is rather localized. In North America it is more widely distributed, and it is ubiquitous across the Sun Belt of the United States and in the rainforests of South America.The Great Egret is a large heron with all-white plumage. Standing up to 1 m tall, this species can measure 80 to 104 cm in length and have a wingspan of 131 to 170 cm. Apart from size, the Great Egret can be distinguished from other white egrets by its yellow bill and black legs and feet, though the bill may become darker and the lower legs lighter in the breeding season. In breeding plumage, delicate ornamental feathers are borne on the back. Males and females are identical in appearance; juveniles look like non-breeding adults. It is a common species, usually easily seen. It has a slow flight, with its neck retracted. This is characteristic of herons and bitterns, and distinguishes them from storks, cranes, ibises, and spoonbills, which extend their necks in flight. The Great Egret is not normally a vocal bird; at breeding colonies, however, it often gives a loud croaking cuk cuk cuk.

photo by lucky
edited by mobydick74

  China, Xiamen

Karma: 6 Added by Lucky 1 Comments