Caohai Lake

Caohai sits at about 2,170 metres on the western Guizhou plateau, a shallow lake of roughly twenty-five square kilometres thick with submerged vegetation, which is what its name, sea of grass, refers to. It is the most important wintering ground for black-necked cranes, the only crane species that lives its whole life at high altitude, and several hundred arrive from the Tibetan plateau each autumn along with thousands of other waterbirds, feeding in the shallows and the surrounding stubble fields. Punts poled by local boatmen cross the lake, and hides and shore paths allow watching without disturbing the flocks.

What you actually see

• The black-necked cranes - hundreds wintering on the lake and fields.
• The waterbird flocks - ducks, geese and waders through the winter.
• The punts - flat boats poled across the shallow lake.
• The plateau setting - the lake at 2,170 metres among farmland.

When to go

November to March, when the cranes are present; they arrive from October and leave by April. Winter mornings are cold and misty, which is when the birds are most active. Summer has no cranes.

Honest expectations

Boatmen sometimes approach flocks too closely, which is worth declining. Weining is remote and facilities basic. Winter at this altitude is genuinely cold with poor heating.

Nearby

Bijie lies east; Yunnan is west.